SAT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities

A Side-by-Side Comparison of Top Public University Admissions Data

Royce Hall at UCLA
Royce Hall at UCLA. Photo Credit: Marisa Benjamin
By
Allen Grove
Allen Grove
College Admissions Expert
  • Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
  • M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
  • B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT
Dr. Allen Grove is an Alfred University English professor and a college admissions expert with over 20 years of experience helping students transition to college.
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Updated on February 24, 2020

Curious if you have the SAT scores you'll need to get into one of the top public universities in the country? Check out this side-by-side comparison of scores for the middle 50% of currently enrolled students. If your SAT scores fall within (or above) the ranges listed below, you're on target for admissions to these schools.

Top Public University SAT Score Comparison (mid 50%)
(Learn what these numbers mean)

Reading 25% Reading 75% Math 25% Math 75% GPA-SAT-ACT
Admissions
Scattergram
College of William and Mary 660 740 640 740 see graph
Georgia Tech 670 730 720 790 see graph
UC Berkeley 630 720 630 760 see graph
UCLA 620 710 600 740 see graph
UC San Diego 600 680 610 730 see graph
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 630 710 710 790 see graph
University of Michigan 660 730 670 770 see graph
UNC Chapel Hill 640 720 630 740 see graph
University of Virginia 660 740 650 760 see graph
University of Wisconsin 620 690 660 760 see graph

View the ACT version of this table

Realize, of course, that an applicant's SAT scores are just onepiece of the admissions equation. Perfect 800s don't guarantee admission if other parts of your application are weak. These schools generally practice holistic admissions; they look at more than just grades and scores when determining a student's application. Admissions officers will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation.

To see a visual of how other students fared, click on the "see graph" links to the right. There you'll find a graph showing the GPA and test scores of students who were admitted, rejected, and accepted to each school. You might find some with high test scores who were rejected, and some with low scores who were admitted. This again shows how the rest of the application is just as important, if not more so, than the SAT and/or ACT scores. 

It's also important to add that if you are an out-of-state applicant, you may need to have scores significantly higher than those shown here. Most state-funded universities give preference to in-state applicants.

If the public university you're looking for isn't in the table above, check out this SAT comparison table for 22 more great public universities. And you can also find SAT information in any of the A to Z college profiles.

To see a full profile of each college, click on the names in the table above. There you'll find more admissions information, financial aid data, and other useful statistics. You can also check out these other SAT charts:

More SAT Comparison Tables: the Ivy League | top universities (non-Ivy) | top liberal arts colleges | top public universities | top public liberal arts colleges | University of California campuses | Cal State campuses | SUNY campuses | more SAT charts

Data from National Center for Educational Statistics

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Grove, Allen. "SAT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities." ThoughtCo, Aug. 25, 2020, thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-top-public-universities-p2-788610. Grove, Allen. (2020, August 25). SAT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-top-public-universities-p2-788610 Grove, Allen. "SAT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-top-public-universities-p2-788610 (accessed March 27, 2023).