Clear Test Prep Begins with a Clear Goal

Here’s how we set score goals with our students:

Step 1: Build a full college list: reaches, matches, and safeties. 

The score goal should reflect your real ambitions, not just what feels safe or average. Usually, it's the reach schools that push your score goal higher. They’ll end up shaping your top-end target.

Step 2: Evaluate your chances at those reach schools. 

We don’t blindly aim for top scores, neither should you. Before setting an ambitious SAT goal, we assess how realistic those reach schools are based on the entire application, not just GPA and test scores. Yes, U.S. college admissions are holistic, but there’s still a baseline threshold. An 1100 isn’t getting into Harvard, no matter how impressive the rest of the application.

Step 3: Once we’ve determined whether those reaches are even within range, we ask the critical question.

If you’re unsure whether your application is competitive right now, that’s okay. You’ve got plenty of time to turn things around. In fact, your SAT score is one of the most powerful ways to boost your competitiveness for a school. The bigger question remains: do you truly want to go there?

If the answer is no, why let that school dictate your score goal? Your SAT strategy should reflect the schools you’re truly excited about, not just the ones that sound impressive. If the answer is yes, get ready to commit. With the right motivation and energy, any goal is absolutely within reach for any student. 

Step 4: Go straight to the Common Data Set. 

Don’t rely on vague blog posts or outdated numbers from sketchy sources. We strictly use the Common Data Set (CDS) to find the most accurate, official admissions data. Specifically, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile SAT scores for each school the past 3 years. We take an average so as to not overlook any significant admissions trends that may have impacted that year’s applicants. You can find this data by searching: “[University of Interest] Common Data Set 2024-2025.”

Step 5: Factor in admissions context. 

Are you a recruited athlete, legacy, low-income student, or part of an underrepresented minority (URM)? If so, your admissions context may mean you don’t need to hit the same score thresholds as an unhooked applicant. On the flip side, if you're a middle-income student from an overrepresented demographic, applying through traditional means, your threshold is higher.

Context matters. It shapes which percentile you target: sometimes the 25th, sometimes the 50th, and sometimes the 75th.

Step 6: Choose the highest number from your list. 

The most selective school you’re serious about should define your top-end score goal. That becomes your target score.

Step 7: Align your test prep strategy to your score goal. 

Prepping for a 1400 isn’t the same as prepping for a 1500, and prepping for a 1500 is completely different than prepping for a 1550. A clear target tells you where to focus: what question types to prioritize, what degree to which you should analyze your errors, and how aggressively to prep essential, often supplementary, skills like pacing.

Want a safer way to your dream SAT score? 

Book a free 60-minute consultation. We’ll walk through your testing data, college list, and help you determine what score you actually need. More importantly, we’ll build you a custom plan to reach your dream SAT score, guaranteed. No score, no pay.