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    Is a 1450 SAT score good?

    Yes. A 1450 is a strong score on the SAT. It's at the 95th percentile of recent SAT takers and in the top 1% of all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, by College Board's percentiles. Whether it's good for you depends on your colleges: it's inside or above the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen at 887 of the 925 colleges we track with published SAT ranges.

    Updated

    percentile of recent SAT takers
    95th
    percentile of all U.S. 11th and 12th graders
    99+
    colleges where it's in or above the middle 50%
    887 of 925
    ACT equivalent
    33

    Percentiles: College Board, SAT Nationally Representative and User Percentiles. User group percentiles count students who graduated in the past three school years; nationally representative ones are weighted to stand for all U.S. 11th and 12th graders. Checked October 31, 2026. ACT equivalent: ACT and College Board concordance (2018).

    Key takeaways

    • A 1450 is below the 25th percentile at the most selective private universities, from Notre Dame (1460) to Stanford, Northwestern and MIT (1520).
    • At NYU, USC and Notre Dame, a 1450 is below range but worth sending by our estimates; at Duke, Vanderbilt and Northwestern, it's a close call.
    • Out-of-state automatic awards at Alabama, Ole Miss and Michigan Tech pay $20,000 or more a year at 1450 with a strong GPA.

    How a 1450 compares across colleges

    Where 1450 falls against the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen who sent scores, at public and at private colleges.

    Where a 1450 falls in colleges' middle 50% SAT ranges
    Where a 1450 fallsPublic (378)Private (547)
    Above the 75th percentile356445
    Inside the middle 50%2264
    Below the 25th percentile038
    Colleges we track with a published SAT range: each college's Common Data Set, or the federal College Scorecard where it has none.

    Large public universities where a 1450 is in range

    The largest public universities where 1450 is inside the middle 50%. Each range links to its source and each policy to the college's admissions page. "Sent an SAT" is the share of enrolled first-years the range describes.

    Large public universities where a 1450 is in range
    CollegeMiddle 50% SAT (Fall 2025)2026-27 test policySent an SAT
    Purdue University-Main Campus1220-1470Required84%
    University of Wisconsin-Madison1400-1490Optional12%
    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign1390-1520Optional43%
    University of Florida1330-1490Required78%
    University of Michigan-Ann Arbor1370-1530Optional55%
    University of Washington-Seattle Campus1320-1502Varies by applicant19%
    University of Minnesota-Twin Cities1310-1460Optional7%
    University of Maryland-College Park1410-1520Optional37%
    University of Massachusetts-Amherst1330-1480Optional25%
    University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill1400-1530Optional22%
    Sources: each college's Common Data Set (or College Scorecard) and admissions page, linked in the table.

    Selective private colleges where a 1450 is in range

    The private colleges with the highest middle 50% that still includes 1450, most selective first.

    Selective private colleges where a 1450 is in range
    CollegeMiddle 50% SAT2026-27 test policySent an SAT
    Dartmouth College1440-1550Required69%
    Case Western Reserve University1440-1530Optional52%
    Colgate University1450-1510Optional23%
    Washington and Lee University1430-1530Optional30%
    Grinnell College1430-1520Optional29%
    Hamilton College1440-1510Optional35%
    Northeastern University1440-1510Optional22%
    Smith College1420-1520Optional30%
    Georgetown University1405-1530Required78%
    Boston University1420-1510Optional36%
    Sources: each college's Common Data Set (or College Scorecard) and admissions page, linked in the table.

    Where does a 1450 fall short?

    At public universities, nowhere: a 1450 is inside or above the middle 50% at every public university we track with a published range. It falls short at the most selective private ones, by 10 to 70 points: Notre Dame (1460), USC and Brown (1470), NYU and Yale (1480), Cornell and Princeton (1490), Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Duke and Vanderbilt (1510), and Stanford, Northwestern and MIT (1520).

    Every one of those admitted fewer than one applicant in eight for Fall 2025, so a score in range wouldn't make admission likely there either. We've written about SAT ranges at Ivy League schools.

    Should you send a 1450 to test-optional colleges?

    Where you have the choice, usually yes. At NYU and USC (1410 at both) and Notre Dame (1420), a 1450 is above our estimate of the typical SAT of freshmen who enrolled without one, though it's below the 25th percentile of those who sent one. At Duke, Vanderbilt and Northwestern, where we estimate 1470 to 1480, it's a close call and your GPA decides.

    Many of the most selective colleges don't offer the choice. Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Cornell, Yale, Brown and MIT require a score for 2026-27, so you send your best one either way.

    Which scholarships does a 1450 earn?

    For out-of-state students, a 1450 is at the top of several public grids:

    • Alabama. The Presidential Scholarship pays $28,000 a year from 1420 with a 3.50 GPA, from a single test date.
    • Ole Miss. Non-residents receive $20,790 a year toward the non-resident fee from 1420 with a 3.5.
    • Michigan Tech. The National Scholars Program pays $21,000 a year from 1430 with a 4.0 GPA, or from 1460 with a 3.95.

    The next step up is 1490, where Tennessee's Out-of-State Volunteer Scholarship rises from $9,000 to $18,000 a year with a 4.0. This page counts only awards with an SAT minimum. Many colleges also give merit aid on GPA alone; our merit aid calculator estimates awards from your GPA and score together.

    Where 1450 fits, college by college

    Each college we track, with its middle 50% of enrolled freshmen, where 1450 falls in it, whether to send it, and the merit aid whose SAT minimum it meets. Pick a score within 20 points of 1450 or a state to redraw the lists.

    At 1450: 76 target, 29 reach and 783 likely colleges; worth sending to 752 of 762 test-optional colleges.

    Target colleges for 1450 (76)

    1450 is inside the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen, or at a test-optional college it's worth sending. Most selective first.

    Target colleges for 1450
    Jewish Theological Seminary of AmericaNew York, NY · Admits 49%SAT, middle 50%1440 to 1580Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?No estimateTest optional
    Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, OH · Admits 35%SAT, middle 50%1440 to 1530Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1380
    Colgate UniversityHamilton, NY · Admits 18%SAT, middle 50%1450 to 1510Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1400
    Northeastern University OaklandOakland, CA · Admits 17%SAT, middle 50%1420 to 1520Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1390
    Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA · Admits 22%SAT, middle 50%1420 to 1520Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1380
    Scripps CollegeClaremont, CA · Admits 40%SAT, middle 50%1430 to 1500Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1390
    University of Maryland-College ParkCollege Park, MD · Admits 45%SAT, middle 50%1410 to 1520Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1350
    University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC · Admits 17%SAT, middle 50%1400 to 1530Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional; required below a 2.8 GPA. Send from 1330
    Rhode Island School of DesignProvidence, RI · Admits 19%SAT, middle 50%1396 to 1530Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1320
    Babson CollegeWellesley, MA · Admits 16%SAT, middle 50%1410 to 1510Lower half of the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1350

    Reach colleges for 1450 (29)

    1450 is below the middle 50% but above the bottom 10% or so, or the college admits under 15% of applicants, a reach for everyone. Closest first.

    Reach colleges for 1450
    Colby CollegeWaterville, ME · Admits 7%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1550Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1410
    Haverford CollegeHaverford, PA · Admits 13%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1530Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1420
    Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury, VT · Admits 13%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1530Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1420
    Tufts UniversityMedford, MA · Admits 11%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1520Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1420
    University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN · Admits 9%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1540Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1420
    Wellesley CollegeWellesley, MA · Admits 15%SAT, middle 50%1460 to 1540Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1410
    Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA · Admits 8%SAT, middle 50%1470 to 1540Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1400
    Bowdoin CollegeBrunswick, ME · Admits 7%SAT, middle 50%1470 to 1540Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1430
    Brown UniversityProvidence, RI · Admits 6%SAT, middle 50%1470 to 1550Below the middle 50%Send this score?RequiredTest required
    University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA · Admits 11%SAT, middle 50%1470 to 1540Below the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1410

    Not listed: 22 more colleges where 1450 is under roughly the 10th percentile of freshmen.

    Likely colleges for 1450 (284)

    1450 is above the 75th percentile of enrolled freshmen at a college admitting 15% or more. Closest first.

    Likely colleges for 1450
    American UniversityWashington, DC · Admits 66%SAT, middle 50%1320 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1290
    Dakota State UniversityMadison, SD · Admits 92%SAT, middle 50%1190 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional; required below a 2.6 GPA. Send from 1090Merit at this score$4,000 a yearDSU Presidential Champion. 3.00+ GPA, 1420+ SAT or 32+ ACT, Freshmen under four years out of high school
    Dickinson CollegeCarlisle, PA · Admits 41%SAT, middle 50%1340 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1300
    Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicago, IL · Admits 55%SAT, middle 50%1180 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1190
    North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, NC · Admits 40%SAT, middle 50%1310 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional; required below a 2.8 GPA. Send from 1270
    Ohio State University-Main CampusColumbus, OH · Admits 49%SAT, middle 50%1300 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?RequiredTest required
    Rochester Institute of TechnologyRochester, NY · Admits 71%SAT, middle 50%1310 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1270
    St Olaf CollegeNorthfield, MN · Admits 43%SAT, middle 50%1320 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1250
    St. John's CollegeAnnapolis, MD · Admits 55%SAT, middle 50%1270 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1240
    The College of WoosterWooster, OH · Admits 64%SAT, middle 50%1245 to 1440Above the middle 50%Send this score?Send itTest optional. Send from 1220

    Not listed: 499 more colleges where 1450 is more than 150 points above the middle 50%.

    Automatic scholarships with an SAT minimum at or below 1450

    131 colleges we track publish an automatic merit award with an SAT minimum at or below 1450, including colleges not listed above. Each award's other requirements, usually a GPA, are listed with it, and the college's page has every rule. Largest first.

    What 50 more points changes

    At 1500, 47 colleges move up a band, 10 test-optional colleges become worth sending to, and 9 colleges have a larger scholarship whose SAT minimum it meets. See every college at 1500.

    Moves up a band (47)

    Becomes worth sending (10)

    Meets a larger award's SAT minimum (9)

    We sort by score alone, with the same rules as our college pages, because this page doesn't ask for your GPA. SAT ranges are the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen who sent scores, mostly the Fall 2025 entering class, from each college's Common Data Set or the federal College Scorecard. Test policies are for fall 2027. "Send from" is our estimate of the typical SAT of freshmen who enrolled without one. Scholarships come from each college's published policy, linked.

    What costs points at a 1450?

    A 1450 sits between 1400, where you can miss about 11 to 14 questions, and 1500, where you can miss about 5 to 8. The misses that remain skew toward the hardest questions, and the work is finding which ones by skill.

    Review each hard miss until you can name the step that failed: "I set up the equation correctly but answered for x when the question asked for 2x" is useful, and "I got it wrong" isn't. At this level, hard practice questions run short. College Board's question bank lets you filter by skill and difficulty, but it has a limited number of hard questions in any one skill. We've written more about going from 1400 to 1500 and how many questions you can miss at each score.

    Other SAT scores

    1400 is 50 lower; 1500 is 50 higher. Every score from 900 to 1600 is on the SAT scores page. To check one college against your score and GPA, use the submit or retake tool.

    Common questions about a 1450 SAT

    Is a 1450 a good SAT score?
    Yes. A 1450 is a strong score on the SAT. It's at the 95th percentile of recent SAT takers and in the top 1% of all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, by College Board's percentiles. Whether it's good for you depends on your colleges: it's inside or above the middle 50% of enrolled freshmen at 887 of the 925 colleges we track with published SAT ranges.
    What percentile is a 1450 on the SAT?
    A 1450 is at the 95th percentile among students who took the SAT and graduated in the past three school years (College Board's user group percentiles): about 5% of them scored higher. Against all U.S. 11th and 12th graders, including those who don't take the SAT (College Board's nationally representative percentiles), it's in the top 1%.
    What colleges can I get into with a 1450 SAT?
    By score alone, a 1450 makes 76 colleges we track a target, including Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Case Western Reserve University and Colgate University, and 783 colleges likely: it's above the middle 50% of their freshmen. Grades, courses and the rest of your file count too, and colleges admitting under 15% of applicants are a reach for everyone.
    Should I send a 1450 to test-optional colleges?
    At 752 of the 762 test-optional colleges where we estimate the typical score of freshmen who enrolled without one, a 1450 is at or above it, so sending it helps. Elsewhere, applying without it is usually the better call, unless the score earns a scholarship. Each college's row in the table gives the call.
    What ACT score is a 1450 SAT?
    A 1450 SAT matches a 33 on the ACT, by the concordance tables ACT and College Board published together in 2018.
    Should I retake the SAT with a 1450?
    It depends on your list. Fifty more points, 1500, would move up a band at 47 colleges, become worth sending at 10 colleges and meet a richer scholarship's SAT minimum at 9 colleges. If none of those colleges is on your list, you may get more from spending that time on the rest of your application.

    Have another question? Email us at team@getsharp.app.