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Previously, we’ve discussed the steps to take if you wish to cancel your SAT score, and mentioned that if the schools you’re applying to do not require all of your test scores, you might not have to panic. That’s because many schools will “superscore” your tests! In this post, we will talk about what superscoring means, what you can do about it, and which colleges superscore your tests.
What is Superscoring?
Superscoring is when schools add up the highest section scores across all the tests you have taken. Instead of looking at your tests separately, schools will calculate the highest composite score for their applicants.
For instance, let’s looks at a student who took three separate SAT tests:
March SAT—English 620 / Math 630
October SAT—English 720 / Math 660
November SAT—English 640 / Math 730
If college do not superscore, this student’s highest SAT score is the October test, where she received a 1380 (720 + 660). On the other hand, if the school does superscore, her highest score will become 1450 (720 + 730). Put yourself in her shoes and imagine this: you worked really hard on the English sections over the summer and scored a decent 720 on your October SAT. Next, you decided to work on math for the entire month before your next (hopefully last) SAT in November. As a result, you put too much effort in math and didn’t do well on the English sections, and your total scored dropped by 10 points, from 1380 to 1370, despite your 730 math score.
Now, superscoring becomes extremely important! You certainly don’t have to take the test again because your composite score from superscoring is now 1450—much higher than any of your total score on the same test date. That being said, if you are applying to colleges that superscore, you may focus on specific sections while preparing for you tests, building a high composite score across different test dates.
Schools that Superscore
Lastly, here are some popular colleges (in alphabetical order) that superscore. If you don’t find your schools here, please visit their admissions site to learn more about their policy on superscoring.
- American University
- Amherst College
- Babson College
- Bates College
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Brandeis University
- Brown University
- California State University
- Columbia University
- Dartmouth College
- Duke University
- Georgetown University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Middlebury College
- New York University
- Northeastern University
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Princeton University
- Purdue University
- Stanford University
- University of Chicago
- University of Connecticut
- University of Miami
- University of North Carolina
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Southern California
- University of Virginia
- University of Wisconsin
- Vanderbilt University
- Virginia Tech
- Wellesley College
- Williams College
- Yale University
What Does It Mean?
If schools that you apply to do superscore, you should submit test scores of which your section scores are the highest! As the early example shows, the school will have your official test score as the sum of your highest section scores