A 1420 is in the 94th percentile: it beats about 94 of every 100 SAT takers. Among the 400 most-applied-to colleges that report SAT ranges, it's at or above the 75th percentile at 296 of them, inside the middle 50% at 81 and just below the 25th percentile at 21.
93rd–95th percentile: strong at flagships and many selective colleges.
A 1420 is in the 94th percentile, so it beats about 94 of every 100 test takers. It's at or above the middle 50% range at most state flagships and many selective private colleges.
At the most selective colleges a 1420 is usually below the middle 50% range. It doesn't rule you out there, but the rest of the application has to be exceptional.
For scale: a 1370 is the 91st percentile and a 1470 is the 96th. Check your own estimate with the SAT score calculator, or any score's rank with the SAT percentile calculator.
The middle 50% is the range between the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores of a college's first-year students. Above the 75th percentile, your score is a strength; inside the range, it's typical; below the 25th, it's a reach that the rest of the application has to make up for.
| College | Middle 50% | Admit |
|---|---|---|
| Clemson University | 1220–1420 | 49% |
| Loyola Marymount University | 1250–1420 | 46% |
| United States Naval Academy | 1200–1420 | 8% |
| Furman University | 1240–1420 | 71% |
| College of the Holy Cross | 1240–1420 | 43% |
| Virginia Tech | 1210–1410 | 56% |
| Drexel University | 1210–1410 | 83% |
| University of Vermont | 1240–1410 | 64% |
| College | Middle 50% | Admit |
|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | 1340–1520 | 20% |
| Boston University | 1360–1520 | 19% |
| University of Southern California | 1410–1540 | 13% |
| University of Texas - Austin | 1230–1500 | 29% |
| Purdue University | 1190–1430 | 69% |
| The Ohio State University | 1250–1440 | 57% |
| University of Wisconsin | 1320–1500 | 60% |
| University of Florida | 1300–1470 | 30% |
| College | Middle 50% | Admit |
|---|---|---|
| Northeastern University | 1430–1550 | 18% |
| Swarthmore College | 1430–1560 | 8% |
| Tufts University | 1440–1550 | 11% |
| Dartmouth College | 1440–1560 | 6% |
| New York University | 1450–1570 | 13% |
| Cornell University | 1450–1560 | 9% |
| Brown University | 1460–1570 | 6% |
| Princeton University | 1460–1570 | 4% |
Ranges are each college's most recently reported middle 50% for students who submitted scores, from our college database. University of California and Cal State campuses are left out because they don't consider SAT scores. Look up any college with the college SAT lookup.
The SAT reports Reading and Writing and Math separately, 200–800 each. Colleges see both, so the same 1420 can read differently for an engineering program than for an English major.
| Profile | Reading and Writing | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Even split | 710 | 710 |
| Reading and Writing–leaning | 760 | 660 |
| Math-leaning | 660 | 760 |
Worth it if several colleges on your list are in the within-reach table above, where a 1420 is under the 25th percentile. If your list is flagships and selective privates where 1420 is already in range, the score has done its job.
Retake if:
Keep your 1420 if:
← How good is a 1410? · How good is a 1430? →
Percentiles come from the same SAT percentile table as our percentile calculator. SAT® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this page.