The makers of the SAT and ACT tests have created a conversion table that correlates scores on the one test with scores on the other. We present this table below (the data comes from students taking these tests in 2011) along with a percentile ranking.
This table is an approximation and should be interpreted with caution. Comparing ACT and SAT scores is not simple, since the two tests do not measure the same set of abilities. We explain the differences between the two tests elsewhere on this website: www.berkeleytutors.net/satoract/
Perhaps most useful in comparing the two tests are percentile ranking, which we include in the last column of the table below. For example, if a student had a composite score of 25 on the ACT, then about 75-79 percent of recent high school students who took this test achieved a score of 25 or below.
CR=Critical Reading M=Math W=Writing
|
ACT Composite Score
|
Estimated
SAT CR+M+W |
Estimated
SAT CR+M+W (Score Range)
|
SAT CR+M (Single Score)
|
SAT Writing (Single Score)
|
Percentile
Ranking on CR+M+W
|
|
36
|
2390
|
2380–2400
|
1600
|
800
|
99
|
|
35
|
2330
|
2290–2370
|
1560
|
800
|
99
|
|
34
|
2250
|
2220–2280
|
1510
|
770
|
99
|
|
33
|
2180
|
2140–2210
|
1460
|
740
|
99
|
|
32
|
2120
|
2080–2130
|
1420
|
720
|
97-98
|
|
31
|
2060
|
2020–2070
|
1380
|
690
|
95-97
|
|
30
|
2000
|
1980–2010
|
1340
|
670
|
93-95
|
|
29
|
1940
|
1920–1970
|
1300
|
650
|
90-93
|
|
28
|
1880
|
1860–1910
|
1260
|
630
|
88-91
|
|
27
|
1820
|
1800–1850
|
1220
|
610
|
84-87
|
|
26
|
1770
|
1740–1790
|
1190
|
590
|
80-84
|
|
25
|
1710
|
1680–1730
|
1150
|
570
|
75-79
|
|
24
|
1650
|
1620–1670
|
1110
|
550
|
70-74
|
|
23
|
1590
|
1560–1610
|
1070
|
530
|
64-68
|
|
22
|
1530
|
1510–1550
|
1030
|
510
|
58-62
|
|
21
|
1470
|
1450–1500
|
990
|
490
|
51-55
|
|
20
|
1410
|
1390–1440
|
950
|
470
|
44-48
|
|
19
|
1350
|
1330–1380
|
910
|
450
|
37-41
|
|
18
|
1290
|
1270–1320
|
870
|
430
|
30-34
|
|
17
|
1230
|
1210–1260
|
830
|
420
|
27-28
|
|
16
|
1170
|
1140–1200
|
790
|
400
|
21
|
|
15
|
1100
|
1060–1130
|
740
|
380
|
15-16
|
|
14
|
1020
|
990–1050
|
690
|
360
|
11
|
|
13
|
950
|
910–980
|
640
|
340
|
6-7
|
|
12
|
870
|
820–900
|
590
|
330
|
3-6
|
|
11
|
780
|
750–810
|
530
|
310
|
1-4
|
