At Novel Prep, we’ve been getting a lot of questions from students and parents asking us “What is an SAT superstore?”
To avoid having to answer the same question too many times, we’ve prepared a dedicated guide that will clarify all that you need to know about the topic. If you’re here for a short answer, SAT superscoring basically means having an additional optional decision that involves picking the highest test scores from a given set.
Naturally, the so-called SAT superscore will be higher compared to a regular SAT score you get from a single sitting. The purpose is to put your best foot forward before the college officials. This can come quite in handy if, for example, you aced your first SAT Math exam, but under-performed on each following take.
But unfortunately, it gets a bit more complicated! As you’ll soon find out, different schools have different policies regarding how they choose to interpret your SAT superscore. Therefore, doing your research and staying informed about the college you’re applying to is going to be crucial to your success.
To give you a spoiler: if you scroll through the guide, you’ll notice how we broke down these SAT superscore policies into 3 main sections, as well as included a list about how the popular US colleges choose to go about the process on a case-by-case basis.
Find your ultimate SAT superscore guide below!
A simple formula on how to calculate your ACT and SAT superscore
As you can see, answering the question of “what is SAT superscore” becomes quite simple if you apply the following formula:
- The sum of your highest SAT Math and SAT English scores
On the other hand, the ACT superscore fomula is bit different and goes as follows:
- The average of your highest ACT Math, Science, Reading, and English scores
SAT superscores – what are they?
We’ve already revealed the formula on how to calculate them in the paragraph above. But what are SAT superscores exactly? In practice, it’s a “best of” as it relates to each of your takes.
For instance, let’s say that you aced the Math section on your first attempt but under-performed in the English section and vice-versa in your second SAT attempt. The key issue of such a scenario is not really having an individual SAT score that you’re completely satisfied with. But if we were to apply the SAT superscore concept here, this resolves the issue described, as only your best takes in each of the main 2 sections count, even if they’re from different sittings. Or 3 takes or however many you’ve had.
Note that, a school may ask you for the exact details regarding when you took each individual SAT test. Speaking of which, it also helps to know how long your SAT scores stay valid. But certainly, re-taking the SAT has numerous benefits, even if you decide to take it as a senior. At Novel Prep, we’re generally noticing a trend that most students choose to take the SAT at least twice, and some even more than that.
What’s the key objective of SAT superscoring?
Now that you know that SAT superscoring simply refers to presenting your “best of”, let’s look at the reasons why the US education system has chosen to implement this concept.
- One of the major reasons turns out to be reducing the level of stress and the burden of performance on the students’ shoulders. The underlying mentality is that there’s plenty on their plate as is.
- Another reason is that, believe it or not, college officials actually want every applicant to shine in their brightest light. They want to honor their accomplishments while acknowledging that even the top-performing students may experience a bad day, or even a bad season for that matter.
ACT and SAT superscores – how to submit them?
As not every college is willing to accept your score in a superscore format, whether it be AP or SAT-related, it’s essential to submit your score in a universal format. That is, you need to specify:
- The test date with the best overall score
- Your SAT superscore
You need to submit your college application by the April due date for that year for the ACT, and by March for the SAT. To be universally in line with any possible requirements, we’d advise you to simply point out the exact dates of all of your settings and highlight your best take so your college of choice knows where to look in order to verify it.
How to utilize the concept of superscoring as a student
As we’ve already established, the purpose of superscoring is to alleviate some of the tension associated with the burden of performance. So instead of needlessly stressing yourself about getting that fabled perfect take every time, you can focus on your studies instead. Remember that you can take and re-take the SAT multiple times and yes, you can even take it as a senior.
At Novel Prep, we certainly advise you to do so, as we’ve noticed that most of the students improve their scores with their consecutive attempts. This is especially true if they take us up on our SAT Prep coursework offer – we’ve designed these to take you from A to Z while explaining everything you need to know (more on this later).
If you find that you’re running short on time, it’s always better to focus on either Math or English and have at least one stellar score rather than two mediocre ones. That’s not saying that we necessarily recommend this strategy entirely as it depends on your unique circumstances and what’s on your platter already. However, it’s definitely something to consider. And no, this has nothing to do with being manipulative – it’s simply a way to be strategic with your time.
Do all colleges consider SAT superscores?
Some do, some don’t. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all answer – you’ll need to research the ones you’re interested in yourself to get the most up-to-date information. If you’re starting from scratch, we recommend you give our list of 23 colleges with high acceptance rates a look. As a general rule of thumb, a far greater number of colleges accept SAT superscores compared to ACT superscores.
To be safe, simply send them your entire history, dates, and final scores of every SAT exam you’ve ever taken and let them take it from there. Highlight the ones where you had the best performance to make their job easier. Other than that, there’s not much else you can do (other than doing your best to get a perfect SAT score).
Here’s a list of proven colleges that will consider your SAT superscore:
- MIT
- Princeton
- University of Chicago
- Harvard
- Georgetown
- Boston University
- Columbia
- University of Connecticut
SAT Superscore and Score Choice – is there a difference?
Among the students who ask “What is SAT superscore”, many have also come across the term “Score Choice” as it’s related to the topic at hand. For your convenience and better understanding, take a look at the table below:
| Feature | SAT Superscore | SAT Score Choice |
| Definition | Combines highest section scores from multiple test dates. | Allows students to choose which test scores to send. |
| Score Calculation | Creates a new composite score using the best subscores. | Sends complete scores from selected test dates. |
| Control | Colleges automatically calculate the superscore. | Students decide which scores to submit. |
| Score Visibility | All submitted scores are visible to colleges. | Only selected scores are visible; others are hidden. |
| Studying Focus | Encourages focused study on weaker sections for retakes. | May lead to less focus on individual sections since all scores must be sent together. |
| College Policies | Many colleges superscore, but policies vary widely. | Some colleges require all scores, while others allow Score Choice. |
| Impact on Admissions | Can enhance overall score, potentially improving admission chances. | Allows students to present their best performance, but may not affect overall ranking as much as superscoring. |
The above should give you a rough idea what Score Choice means, but the gist of it is that it allows you more control over which scores get sent over for consideration. In fact, Score Choice is an official College Board tool. Simply put, you get to choose the scores you’d like to disclose to the college officials (you can alter your decision on a college-per-college basis). In other words, if you score well in a particular section and would like to keep the other one sealed, with Score Choice, you can do so without issues. Best of all, the service won’t cost you a dime.
Note: Using Score Choice is completely optional.
3 SAT score policies that are in use today
So now that we’ve established that the exact procedure regarding submitting your SAT varies on a college-per-college basis, let’s quickly outline the 3 SAT score policies that you are likely to encounter in today’s academic environment:
- Single highest test date. As the name implies, you simply send them the date of your highest test score, regardless of whether it happens to be the most recent one or not. Some schools will also request you send them your entire SAT test history.
- All scores required for review. Once again, the name is self-explanatory. At any rate, don’t make the mistake of assuming that all of your scores will be taken into consideration. If a school allows for SAT superscoring, then that’s the measure that’s going to be used for assessment.
- Test-optional. Nowadays, certain colleges, particularly the ones with the lowest admission requirements, are moving into the direction of making SAT scores completely optional.
Is re-taking the SAT test a viable strategy? And if so, how often should you do it?
At Novel Prep, we generally recommend to re-take the SAT until you’re completely satisfied with your score. That’s not to encourage laziness; rather, it’s to relieve some of the stress associated with the burden of performance. To help you along, we’ve prepared a list of 12 study tricks to help you prepare for the SAT.
For your first take, we encourage you to brush up on your skills by taking a SAT practice test. If you can, try to set up real-life testing conditions or at least as close to it as possible. And for your second take, you should study what went wrong with your first one and focus on making improvements. Shameless plug: we can help you do exactly that as par of our SAT Prep course.
College officials that have implemented the SAT superscore system won’t mind your re-takes. But please, no matter how many times you decide to take it, approach it with the seriousness it deserves. If nothing else, be mindful of your time, and, at the end of the day, your financial resources as well (note that there are administrative and entry fees associated with taking part). 5 or 6 attempts should be the absolute maximum.
Novel Prep will help you develop the ultimate ACT and SAT score strategy
As part of our SAT prep courses, we will help you assess where you are on your academic journey as well as where the gaps in your knowledge still lie. Above all, we guarantee that you’ll progress to the next level and improve your score – OR your money back (kindly take a look at the presentation page linked above to get in on the full details of our offer).
In addition, we will:
- Help you become more confident
- Teach you the secret to effective time management
- Let you in on what you need to focus on
- Give you an opportunity to work with established academics
Fun fact: 90 % of our students manage to score 1450 or more on the SAT, and you could become one of them, allowing you to go beyond the colleges that accept students with an SAT score of 1300.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, re-taking the SAT, when done in moderation, is going to be beneficial, not only in terms of making sure you get a score that portrays your academic abilities in the best possible light, but also in terms of stress relief, as you won’t feel that each take represents a life-or-death situation for your academic future, career, and life ahead.
Knowing what an SAT superscore is and which colleges accept it plays a fundamental role in strategically planning ahead and allocating your time in the most efficient manner. Just remember to always check each college’s policies individually and you should be fine. Best of luck at the testing tables!
