How to Get a Perfect SAT Score

What’s a Perfect Score on the SAT?

The highest possible SAT score is 1600, typically referred to as a “perfect score”. In order to achieve it, you need to get perfect scores of 800 on both the Evidence-Based Reading & Writing Section and the Math Section.

However, did you know that you don’t necessarily need to get every question correct in order to get a perfect score? Because of slight differences in difficulty between SAT tests, you can sometimes get 1-2 questions wrong in each section and still get a perfect score.

New to the the test? First check out Magoosh’s guide to digital SAT!

How to Get the Highest SAT Score

Perfect SAT Score on the Digital SAT

In order to get a perfect SAT score on the Digital SAT, you’ll typically need to get 53-54 out of 54 questions correct on the Reading & Writing section and 42-44 questions correct on the Math section.

Perfect SAT score on the Paper SAT

In order to get a perfect SAT score on the Paper SAT, you’ll typically need to get 65-66 out of 66 questions correct on the Reading & Writing section, and 51-54 questions correct on the Math section.

How Many Students Get a Perfect Score on the SAT?

Is getting a perfect score tough to do? You bet! According to the College Board, only around 5% of students score above a 1400 on the test. While the number of perfect SAT scorers is not officially released, it’s well under 1% of test-takers, meaning perhaps only 300 to 500 students out of nearly 2 million test takers each year get perfect scores.

Given how rare they are, perfect scores are certainly not essential to getting into a good college or getting a good scholarship. In fact, perfect scores don’t even necessarily make you a shoe-in: every single year, there are students with perfect scores who get rejected from some universities.

Instead, focus on making yourself competitive at your target schools (and remember, with >80% of colleges and universities currently test-optional, you can be competitive even without an SAT score at all!)

Our tables on SAT scores for top colleges and SAT-required colleges will help you understand the scores you need for different schools. And our digital SAT score calculator can help predict how many questions you need right in order to get your target scaled score.

What Does It Take to Get a Perfect SAT Score?

To get a perfect SAT score of 1600, you’ll need good prep materials, persistence, an understanding of the format, and more. Chances are, if you know somebody with a perfect SAT score, they didn’t just breeze through the test without ever having seen the official exam before.

How do we know this? We’ve talked with students who have gotten those scores…and every single one prepared. Not just some of them. Every single one.

But these students with perfect SAT scores didn’t just sit down and stare at the College Board website for 50 hours. As we discussed their study habits, we noticed that a few big trends emerged.

• Use good materials. Over and over again, students told us that learning about the test was super important to their success. They looked at official practice tests and practice questions on College Board, Khan Academy, and trustworthy prep programs like Magoosh. They analyzed these tests and questions. They took them apart to understand how they worked. The College Board, the test-maker, has some great practice tests you can use for both practice and comparison.
• Know why you want that high score. Did you visit a competitive college and fall in love with it? Do you want to prove something to yourself? There’s no bad reason to aim for a high score, but the more specific our high scorers were in knowing their “why”, the easier they found it was to stay persistent with their drive for a perfect SAT score.
• Consistency matters. When it comes to SAT prep, not all study time is created equal. 20 hours over the four days before the test will end up being a lot less useful than spending five hours a week for four weeks (or more).
• Learn the test, not just the material on it. The SAT is a test that can be learned. You can be an absolute, bona fide, genius, but if you walk into the exam room without ever having studied its format, question types, and pacing, you’re not getting a 1600. It’s that simple.
• Think strategically—but don’t overthink. The SAT is tricky, yes. But what we’ve heard from some students who got a perfect SAT score is that it’s important not to overthink the test—because, at the end of the day, it’s not a trick! Even if you’ve studied extensively, you might find when you get nervous that you start second-guessing yourself and justifying wrong answer choices—don’t!
• Don’t forget about your schoolwork. Not only are grades and your curriculum going to be the main factors determining your college admissions, but also you’ll learn things in your classes that will help you ace the SAT.
• Never, ever, ever, give up. While the students we talked to had varied schedules, varied goals, and varied eating habits, they all emphasized the importance of persistence. So if you’re feeling frustrated, as one of the perfect scorers said, “just keep on trucking.” Many high scorers feel like they stall in their scores right before a breakthrough (which often comes from studying their wrong answers and why they got the questions wrong).
• Oh, and also? Every one of the students ate breakfast. It’s a good habit, we’re just saying!

Boosting Your SAT Score

So how can you get a perfect score (or rather, a perfect score for you) on the SAT? Luckily, Magoosh has a number of SAT prep resources that can help you get your score up! Our free SAT study plans and free SAT practice test can get you off to a strong start.

Magoosh’s SAT Prep is also fully updated for the digital SAT!