What's a Good Chemistry SAT Subject Test Score?

What Chemistry SAT Subject Test score do you need to get into a top college or to earn college credit? The answer, of course, varies widely from college to college, but this article will give a general overview of what defines a good Chemistry SAT Subject Test score.

The chart at the bottom of the page shows the correlation between Chemistry SAT scores and the percentile ranking of students who took the exam. For example, 86% of students scored a 760 or below on the exam.

SAT Subject Test scores aren't comparable to general SAT scores because the subject tests tend to be taken by a higher percentage of high achieving students than the SAT. Whereas a large number of colleges and universities require SAT or ACT scores, only elite and highly selective schools require SAT Subject Test scores. As a result, the average scores for SAT Subject Tests are significantly higher than those for the regular SAT. For the Chemistry SAT Subject Test, the mean score is 629 (compared to about 500 for the SAT).

Most colleges do not publicize their SAT Subject Test admissions data. However, for elite colleges you will ideally have scores in the 700s. Here are what a few colleges say about the SAT Subject Tests:

• MIT: The middle 50% of students scored between 720 and 800 on SAT II Subject Tests in science (from MIT's admissions statistics for the class of 2013)
• Middlebury College: "We are accustomed to seeing ... SAT IIs that range from the low to middle 700s" (from Middlebury admission FAQs)
• Princeton University: the middle 50% of admitted applicants averaged scores between 710 and 790 on their three highest SAT II Subject Tests (from the 2006 - 07 Princeton Profile)
• Williams College: For the class of 2013, 33% of students scored between 750 and 800; 22% scored between 700 and 740; 21% scored between 650 and 690; 13% scored between 600 and 640; and 8% scored between 550 and 590 (from the Williams class of 2013 profile)

As this limited data shows, a strong application will usually have SAT Subject Test scores in the 700s. Realize, however, that all elite schools have a holistic admissions process, and significant strengths in other areas can make up for a less-than-ideal test score.

For course credit and placement in Chemistry, far more colleges recognize AP exams than SAT Subject Test exams. Below are a couple exceptions:

• Georgia Tech: a Chemistry SAT Subject Test score over 720 earns a student credit for CHEM 1310 (from the Georgia Tech Catalog)
• Texas A&M: a score of 700 or higher on the Chemistry SAT Subject Test qualifies a student to take the departmental exam for CHEM 102

You will also find some colleges that will accept a good score on the Chemistry SAT Subject Test as part of their science admissions requirement. In other words, if a school requires three years of high school science, it may be possible to take two years of science and do well on a science SAT II Subject Test in a third field. Check individual school's policies for fulfilling academic admissions requirements.

Data source for the chart below: the College Board website.

Chemistry SAT Subject Test Scores and Percentiles

Chemistry SAT Subject Test Score	Percentile
800	95
780	91
760	86
740	80
720	74
700	67
680	61
660	54
640	48
620	43
600	37
580	32
560	27
540	22
520	18
500	15
480	11
460	8
440	5
420	3
400	1