If you have a student who’s studying for the SAT, you’ve likely heard the word “superscore” thrown around at some point.
But what is it? In short, superscoring is a way college admissions offices calculate the score that appears on your student’s application. Here’s an example: your student gets a 640 on the Math section and a 700 on the Reading/Writing section for the October test date. They study, take the test again in December, and earn a 680 in Math and a 690 in Reading/Writing. In the past, they would only report their higher test score—that 1370 from the December test—but superscoring combines their highest scores, looking at every test they’ve taken. For this example, that means your student’s score would be a 1390—a 20-point jump just from taking the test twice.
Superscoring has been around for a while, but it is now available at more universities (including more selective ones) than ever before. Simply put: Superscoring can be an excellent tool for your student during the admissions process.
What’s Changing About Superscoring
As mentioned above, many colleges and universities have offered superscoring for decades. Doing so allowed them to increase their average admitted scores (and their prestige) while still giving students the chance to achieve those scores without having to do so on a single test. Highly selective schools, however, either didn’t accept superscores (or simply didn’t make their scoring policies publicly available). Maintaining high average test scores wasn’t an issue for them, of course, because the bulk of their applicants were high-achieving students with high test scores.
The pandemic shifted those admissions priorities. Many of the elite schools became test optional, and the only students who chose to submit their scores with applications between 2020 and 2023 were typically in the 98th to 99th percentile of a single test. For that reason, the “average” test scores for elite institutions were skewed during those years, making them seem impossibly high. Today, most elite schools have returned to requiring test scores—or strongly recommending that students submit them, but that’s created a problem for highly selective universities: Their average test scores are dropping significantly because all student have to submit a score now, not just those that crushed their exams. To maintain their rigorous admissions standards, MIT, Stanford, and every Ivy League school except Harvard now superscore for admissions.
Why Superscoring Matters for Your Student
If your student wants to apply to a highly selective university, they should plan to take the SAT multiple times to achieve a competitive superscore—unless they perform exceptionally well on a single test. The changing superscoring policies at elite institutions also mean your student should double check the scoring policy of every school on their college list to make sure they’re putting their best foot forward.
However, taking a test multiple times doesn’t mean your student will perform better. They still need to prepare appropriately for the testing format and for every section. Yes, every section.
While the College Board allows students to submit specific SAT scores from different test dates, some schools—like Georgetown, Rice, and Cornell—demand that applicants send all of their scores. If those schools see an application where the student got a 750/Math and 650/Reading for one test and a 600/Math and 720/Reading on another, what the student did is pretty obvious (and colleges rarely look favorably on students who try to game the system).
As such, your student should see superscoring as a part of their admissions planning, not a solution to raising a low score. Ideally, your student should plan to take the SAT two or three times, giving themselves ample time to study and practice after receiving their scores.
The Enrichery’s 4-month test prep plan offers your student a personalized test prep plan, including strategies for taking the SAT multiple times. The last day to enroll your student ahead of the March SAT is November 22nd. Don’t wait, sign your student up today!
