Scoring guides
21 explanations of how these tests are actually scored, written to be checked. Where a number comes from a College Board or ACT document, the document is linked.
How scoring works
- How the digital SAT is actually scored Raw answers, adaptive routing and IRT: the full mechanism behind a 400-1600 digital SAT score.
- Why two students with the same number correct get different scores Why the SAT gives two students with identical correct counts different section scores.
- How the digital SAT adaptive modules work Module 1 routes to module 2 within each section. What is published, what is not, and what you can do.
What a score means
- What is a good SAT score Percentile anchors, class of 2025 data, and why the answer depends on your college list.
- SAT percentiles explained Three different percentile systems, and why the one on your report has no lookup table.
- The average SAT score, and what it actually tells you Class of 2025 means, the full distribution, and why participation rules distort the average.
Working with practice tests
- How many questions can you miss on the SAT The measured miss-to-score ranges across all eight official College Board tables, and why no exact answer exists.
- Bluebook or paper practice test, and which score you can actually calculate Bluebook is 54 and 44 questions; the paper tests are 66 and 54. Why mixing the scales costs 170 points.
- SAT scoring terms that no longer exist Subscores, cross-test scores, EBRW, the essay and the guessing penalty: what each was and when it was retired.
Sending and combining scores
- SAT superscoring explained How superscores are built, who decides, and how to confirm one college's policy.
- Score Choice and superscoring are not the same thing Score Choice decides what you send. Superscoring is what the college does with it.
- How to send your SAT scores Free sends, the nine day deadline, $15 reports, rush reporting, and delivery timing.
Dates, test day and policy
- SAT score release dates for 2026-2027 Verified test dates, deadlines and score release dates for the 2026-27 SAT cycle.
- SAT test day, practically Exact timing, device rules, what to bring and what Bluebook gives you on test day.
- Which colleges require the SAT for 2026-27 admissions Test-required versus test-optional at 12 selective universities, each checked against its own admissions page.
The sections, and the ACT
- What the SAT Reading and Writing section actually tests Four domains, 50 scored questions, 25-150 word passages, and 1.19 minutes per question.
- What the SAT Math section actually tests Four domains, 40 scored questions, a built-in Desmos calculator, and 1.59 minutes per question.
- SAT or ACT, how to choose in 2026 Digital adaptive SAT versus enhanced ACT: timing, content, scoring and superscore differences that actually decide it.
The other exams
- The enhanced ACT, everything that changed Shorter sections, optional science, and a three-section composite: the 2025 ACT changes in detail.
- The National Merit Selection Index, how it works The Selection Index formula, its 48-228 range, and the truth about published cutoffs.
- AP scores explained, and why no calculator can be exact How the AP 1-5 scale is set, and why every AP score calculator is an estimate.