The college admissions process is extremely competitive at each school, with only a small percentage of applicants receiving acceptance letters.
One major factor that universities use to evaluate students is the SAT score.
A perfect SAT score will not guarantee a student admission to a top school because it is only one aspect of a larger application that includes coursework, recommendations, and extracurricular activities. But a great score will certainly help.
CollegeBoard publishes the mid-50 percent SAT scores of incoming freshmen for each of the three sections — critical reading, math, and writing — for each college.
For example, a range of 710-780 means that 50 percent of the students scored in that range, with 25 percent scoring above, and 25 percent scoring below that range.
We took the average of the ranges and ranked the schools based on the highest average SAT score.
#25 University of Notre Dame (Tie)
Average SAT Score: 2130
Critical Reading: 705
Math: 725
Writing: 700
Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana, is known for its football team, but its students are smart too.
#25 Haverford College (Tie)
Average SAT Score: 2130
Critical Reading: 705
Math: 710
Writing: 715
Haverford College is located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia.
#24 Carleton College
Average SAT Score: 2135
Critical Reading: 715
Math: 715
Writing: 705
Carleton is located in Northfield, Minnesota, and was ranked the eighth best liberal arts college by U.S. News.
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