SAT Scores for Admission to Top Public Universities

If you're wondering if you have the SAT scores you'll need to get into one of the top public universities in the United States, here's a side-by-side comparison of scores for the middle 50% of enrolled students. If your scores fall within or above these ranges, you're on target for admission to one of these top universities.

Realize, of course, that SAT scores are just one part of the application. Perfect 800s don't guarantee admission if other parts of your application are weak. Admissions officers will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation.

Also, 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.

To see a full profile of each college, click on the names in the chart below. You can also check out these other SAT charts (or ACT charts):

SAT Comparison Charts: the Ivy League | top universities (non-Ivy) | top liberal arts colleges | more top liberal arts | 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

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

	SAT Scores
	Reading		Math		Writing
	25%	75%	25%	75%	25%	75%
College of William and Mary	620	730	620	720	610	710
Georgia Tech	600	690	650	730	590	680
UC Berkeley	580	700	620	760	600	710
UCLA	560	680	590	720	580	700
UC San Diego	540	660	600	710	560	670
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign	540	660	660	770	-	-
University of Michigan	590	690	640	740	-	-
UNC Chapel Hill	590	690	620	700	590	690
University of Virginia	600	710	630	730	610	710
University of Wisconsin	550	670	620	730	570	670
View the ACT version of this table