SAT Score Comparison for Admission to California Colleges

Learn what SAT scores you're likely to need to get into one of the top California colleges and universities. The side-by-side comparison table below shows 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 colleges in California.

California Colleges SAT Score Comparison (mid 50%)
(Learn what these numbers mean)

View the ACT version of this table or see tables for Cal State and the University of California.

You can click on a school's name to get more admissions information including a graph of GPA, SAT score, and ACT score data for admitted, rejected, and waitlisted students.

Clearly,​ admissions standards to these colleges and universities vary widely. Stanford and Caltech are two of the most selective colleges in the United States, and UCLA and Berkeley are a couple of the most prestigious and selective public universities in the country. If you're a strong student with not-so-strong SAT scores, Pitzer College is one of the many test-optional institutions in the country.

Also, keep in mind that the SAT is just one part of your college application. The admissions officers at many of these California colleges will also want to see a strong academic record, a winning essay, meaningful extracurricular activities and good letters of recommendation.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.