SAT/ACT Score

Colleges accept both the SAT and the ACT, but the two tests use completely different scales — the SAT ranges from 400 to 1600, while the ACT ranges from 1 to 36. When students take one test, retake the other, or want to know how their score compares to a school's admitted-student profile listed in the opposite scale, they need a reliable way to translate between the two. That's the purpose of an SAT/ACT concordance calculator.

The College Board and ACT jointly released official concordance tables that map score ranges on one test to equivalent score ranges on the other, based on large-scale data from students who took both exams. Our calculator uses these published concordance relationships so you can enter a score on either test and see the corresponding equivalent score on the other — useful for deciding which test to focus retaking, for comparing your score to a target school's middle 50% range, or simply for understanding how your performance stacks up across both scales.

Keep in mind that concordance is a statistical mapping, not a perfect one-to-one formula — two students with the "equivalent" score didn't necessarily miss the exact same number of questions, since the tests measure overlapping but not identical skills. Still, for the practical purposes of comparing scores or checking an admissions range, the official concordance tables remain the most reliable translation available between the two exams.

SAT/ACT conversion is a practical tool for college admissions planning:

Deciding which test to submit: If you've taken both the SAT and ACT, converting both scores to the same scale lets you see objectively which one represents your stronger performance, so you can submit the more favorable score to colleges (most schools accept either). Without conversion, it's easy to assume the test with the "bigger number" is stronger, which is meaningless when comparing a 1200 SAT to a 26 ACT on completely different scales.

Comparing to admissions targets: College websites and profiles often list only one test's middle 50% range for admitted students. If you only have a score on the other test, conversion lets you gauge how competitive your application is at a glance, without having to track down a separate table or guess.

Deciding whether to retake: If your SAT score converts to an ACT equivalent well below your target school's range, that data point helps you decide whether a retake, extra prep, or switching to the other test entirely might improve your chances. It also helps set a realistic score goal for a retake, since you can convert your target school's range back into whichever test you plan to focus on.

Scholarship eligibility: Many merit scholarships specify a minimum score on one test but not the other. Concordance tables let students who only took the SAT (or only the ACT) determine whether they meet an ACT-specific (or SAT-specific) scholarship cutoff without having to sit for the second exam just to check.