As of October 2026. Every number below is sourced; the list is at the end.
We answer this at Test Prep Gurus with one line:
There are no good or bad scores. There are only scores that will help you reach your goals.
Start there. As of October 2026 a 1210 SAT sits at the 77th percentile and a 22 ACT sits at the 69th, which sounds strong, and both sit under the score band of every selective college in the table below. A good SAT or ACT score is the score that fits the colleges your kid actually wants.
The national average answers the wrong question
The comfortable belief is that a good score means a score above average. ACT reports that the average ACT score was 19.4 in 2024. By that math a 22 is good and a 28 is terrific.
Then you look at the list on your kitchen table.
Percentiles tell you how your kid did against everyone else who tested. A 22 ACT is the 69th percentile and a 28 is the 90th. A 1210 SAT is the 77th percentile and a 1400 is the 93rd. Those are honest facts about the national pool. They are not facts about how one college reads one application.
A percentile is a crowd. Admission is a list.
What the colleges' own numbers look like
Below is the middle 50% band for enrolled first-year students who submitted a score. Read that carefully: these describe students who enrolled and submitted a score, not students who were admitted.
| College | SAT middle 50% | ACT middle 50% |
|---|---|---|
| Stanford University | 1510-1580 | 34-35 |
| New York University | 1480-1570 | 33-35 |
| University of Southern California | 1440-1550 | 32-35 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | 1230-1490 | 27-33 |
| University of Arizona | 1160-1420 | 21-30 |
Look at the spread. A 1400 is under the band at Stanford, NYU and USC. The same 1400 is inside the band at UT Austin and near the top of it at Arizona. One score, three different answers.
A 28 ACT splits the same way. It is under the band at Stanford and USC, and inside it at both UT Austin and Arizona.
So the real question is not whether a number is good. It is good for whom.
How to turn that into a target
Take your kid's list. Find the most selective school on it that would genuinely hurt to lose, and use the top of that school's band as the number to aim at, not the bottom. The bottom of a band means a quarter of the enrolled submitters came in under it, and those students almost always brought something else with them. Aiming at the bottom is aiming to be the exception.
Then do the work, because scores move. Students who start at 1350 or below on the SAT gain 190 points on average, 1210 to 1400, which is the 77th percentile to the 93rd. Students who start at 27 or below on the ACT gain 5.7 points, 22 to 28, the 69th percentile to the 90th. That comes from 6 to 12 weeks of prep on the whole SAT or ACT, every section, every sitting. Never one section at a time.
You can look up the bands yourself at highschoolreach.com/test-scores, and see how a score changes your kid's odds at highschoolreach.com/score-odds. Both are free.
Back to the frame. The number is not good or bad.
It is either enough for the list, or not yet.
The move
This month, get a real starting number. Have your kid sit one full SAT and one full ACT so you know where they stand and which exam fits them better, then count back 6 to 12 weeks from the SAT or ACT date you want. We give both mock exams free, with the results explained to you: prepgurus.com/frequently-asked-questions, or call 949.229.5359.
Questions parents ask
Is a 1200 SAT a good score for my daughter?
It depends entirely on her college list. A 1210 is the 77th percentile nationally, but it sits under the 1230-1490 band of enrolled submitters at UT Austin and well under USC's 1440-1550.
Should we aim for the low end or the high end of a college's score range?
Aim at the top of the band. The bottom means a quarter of enrolled submitters came in under it, and those students usually brought something else to the application.
How much can a score realistically go up?
Students who start at 1350 or below on the SAT gain 190 points on average, 1210 to 1400, and students starting at 27 or below on the ACT gain 5.7 points, 22 to 28. That takes 6 to 12 weeks of prep on the whole exam.
Written by Nick Standlea, founder of Test Prep Gurus. Updated October 2026.
Sources
- Test Prep Gurus student results (percentiles, average gains) — https://www.prepgurus.com/results-at-test-prep-gurus
- ACT, Understanding Your Scores (average ACT composite, 2024) — https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/understanding-your-scores.html
- Score bands for enrolled first-years who submitted, federal IPEDS via Reach college pages — https://highschoolreach.com/test-scores
- Test Prep Gurus program and free diagnostics — https://www.prepgurus.com/frequently-asked-questions