Your combined score for the SAT I is your combined verbal and math sections. Supposedly 500 for each section is around 50th percentile.

This list is from a 1993 Kaplan book. Naturally these scores have changed, but they are a good barometer of what your target score is for your SAT. Be aware that you don't have to get this score or higher. This is just what a large proportion of accepted students get. If you're short on the SAT, you can make up for it with better grades, extracurricular activities, and a killer admissions essay. YMMV and I'd reccomend a good "getting into college" book.

If there's a typo, /msg me. I typed this myself.

Median SAT over 1250
Amherst College, MA
Barnard College, NY
Bates College, ME
Bowdoin College,ME
Brown University, RI
Bryn Mawr College, PA
Bucknell University
California Institute of Technology, CA
Claremont McKenna College, CA
College of William and Mary, VA
Columbia University, NY
Cooper Union, NY
Cornell University, NY
Curtis Institue of Music, PA
Dartmouth College, NH
Davidson College, NC
Duke University, NC
Georgetown University, DC
Harvard & Radcliffe colleges, MA (over 1300 since 2000)
Harvey Mudd College, CA
Haverford College, PA
Johns Hopkins University, MD
Julliard School, NY
Massachusetts Institue of Technology, MA
Northwestern University, IL
Oberlin College, OH
Pomona College, CA
Princeton University, NJ
Rice University, TX
Smith College, MA
Stanford University, CA
Swarthmore College, PA
Tufts University, MA
United States Air Force Academy, CO
United States Coast Guard Academy, CT
United States Military Academy, NY
United States Naval Academy, MD
University of Chicago, IL
University of Michigan, MI
University of Notre Dame, IN
University of Pennsylavnia, PA
University of Virginia, VA
Vassar College, NY
Wake Forest University, NC
Washington and Lee University, VA
Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, NY
Wellesley College, MA
Wesleyan University, CT
Williams College, MA
Yale University, CT


Median SAT 1150-1250
Bard College, NY
Brandeis University, MA
Carleton College, MN
Carnegie Mellon University, PA
Case Western Reserve University, OH
Colorado State University, CO
Connecticut College, CT
Drew University, NJ
Emory University, GA
Fordham University, NY
George Washington University, DC
Gettysburg College, PA
Grinnell College, IA
Hamilton College, NY
Kenyon College, OH
Lawrence University, WI
Macalester College, MN
Miami University, OH
Middlebury College, VT
Mount Holyoke College, MA
New College of the University of S. Florida
New York University, NY
Reed College, OR
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY
Rhode Island School of Design, RI
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, IN
Rutgers College, NJ
Saint Olaf College, MN
Sarah Lawrence College, NY
Skidmore College, NY
Southwestern University, TX
State University of New York at Binghamton, NY
Syracuse University, NY
Trinity College, CT
Tulane University, LA
University of California at Berkeley, CA
University of California, Los Angeles, CA
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Vanderbuilt University, TN
Western International University, AZ
Wheaton College, IL


Median SAT 1050-1150
Alfred University, NY
American University, DC
Beloit College, WI
Birmingham-Southern College, AL
Boston University, MA
Brigham Young University, UT
City University of NY/Hunter College
Coe College, IA
Denison University, OH
DePaw University, IN
Earlham College, IN
Eckerd College, FL
Florida State University, FL
Goucher College, MD
Hampshire College, MA
Hillsdale College, MI
Hofstra University, NY
La Salle University, PA
Lewis and Clark College, OR
Loyola College, MD
Marlboro College, VT
Marquette University, WI
Mills College, CA
Mississippi State University, MS
Northeast Missouri State University, MO
Prescott College, AZ
Saint John's College, MD
Texas A & M University, TX
Transylvania University, KY
University of Connecticut, CT
University of Maryland at College Park, MD
University of Miami, FL
University of Missouri-Rolla, MO
University of Texas at Austin, TX
University of Vermont, VT
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
Valpraiso University, IN


Median SAT 900-1050
Adelphi University, NY
Auburn University, AL
Ball State University, IN
Benington College, VT
Bethany College, WV
Calvin College, MI
Catholic University of America, DC
Christendom College, VA
Christian Brothers University, TN
College of Wooster, OH
Covenant College, GA
Drake University, IA
Drury College, MO
Fisk University, TN
Glassboro State College, NJ
Guliford College, NC
Hope College, MI
Howard University, DC
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, PA
Kent State University, OH
LeTourneau University, LA
Loyola University, LA
Manhattan College, NY
Millsaps College, MS
Monmouth College, GA
Morehouse College, GA
Niagra University, NY
Northwestern College, WI
Rockhurst College, MO
Seton Hall Univerity, NJ
Sweet Briar College, VA
University of Illinois at Chicago, IL
University of Iowa, IA
University of Oregon, OR
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI
Washington College, MD
Wayne State University, MI
Wheaton College, MA


Median SAT Under 900
Albany State College, GA
Alcorn State University, MS
Bethel College, TN
Blue Mountain College, MS
Boise State University, ID
Central Missouri State University, MO
College of Santa Fe, NM
Cumberland College, KY
Fayeteville State University, NC
Frankline Pierce College, NH
Indiana State University at Kokomo, IN
Jackson State University, MS
Johnson C. Smith University, NC
Lamar University, TX
Lane College, TN
Marshall University, WV
Methodist College, NC
Mississippi Valley State University, MS
New England College, NH
Nicholas College, MA
Nyack College, NY
Pfeiffer College, NC
Piedmont College, GA
Saint Augustine's College, NC
Saint Leo College, FL
Simpson College, CA
Tuskegee Universiity, AL
University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE

This is a useless statistic. Sorry.

Frequently, I receive e-mail and AIM messages from prospective students of Carnegie Mellon University who find me through my web site. These people obsess over their credentials to the point where they no longer are representative of themselves. For example, people see the "average" SAT score as a minimum, and will waste thousands of their parents' dollars on books and courses to artifically inflate their score. Colleges see through this bullshit: if you have shitty grades, shitty recommendations, and a 1500 SAT score, that don't mean jack.

What's more, Carnegie Mellon has six different schools. Each one has its own admissions criteria, and each has its own priorities. For example, if you're going into the College of Fine Arts, the SAT is a formality. Your portfolio or audition is your ticket in. If you're applying to more competitive schools like the School of Computer Science or Carnegie Institute of Technology, then the median SAT score rises to around 1300. It's also helpful to note that these are median scores: half the incoming class has less than these scores, but is otherwise smart enough to make it here. I've seen people with 1600 SATs drive themselves insane with excessive work, and I've seen people with 1200 SATs work their asses off and do just fine. To collapse an entire university down to a couple of four-digit numbers is downright silly.

For the love of God, please don't put too much faith in these lists. Talk to your guidance counselor about getting into college -- even though they spout no small amount of bullshit themselves, they can still provide valuable insight when prodded appropriately. Hell, my counselor was the first to tell me about Carnegie Mellon, and I love it here. :)

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