SAT to ACT Conversion: The Official Tables, Explained

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SAT 1290 equals ACT 27. That single line is what most people searching "SAT to ACT conversion" actually want, and it comes from the official 2018 concordance tables published jointly by ACT and the College Board — the same tables colleges use when your SAT lands on the desk of a school that mostly sees ACT scores. This guide covers the key conversions, why one ACT score covers a band of SAT totals, and the strategic question underneath the math: which test should you actually take?

The conversions people look up most

Full table lives in the calculator, but here are the bands students ask about constantly:

SAT Total	ACT Composite	What it means
1570 – 1600	36	Top of the scale; rare
1490 – 1520	34	Elite; strong anywhere
1390 – 1410	31	Competitive at most selective schools
1300 – 1320	28	Strong; above most state-flagship medians regionally
1260 – 1290	27	The single most-searched band
1030 – 1050	20	Near the national average

Note the bands, not exact pairs. The ACT composite has 36 possible scores; the SAT has 121. Concordance matches your relative standing among test takers, so each ACT point absorbs roughly three SAT totals. That's also why converting ACT to SAT gives a range — ACT 27 maps to SAT 1260-1290 — while SAT to ACT gives one number.

Convert any score, both directions

Enter an SAT total or an ACT composite and get the official concordant score, the range, and where it stands nationally.

SAT to ACT Conversion Calculator →

Where do these numbers come from?

In 2018, ACT and the College Board cooperated on something they'd spent decades avoiding: a joint study of students who took both tests, used to build conversion tables both organizations endorse. Researchers matched scores by percentile standing — a 1290 SAT and a 27 ACT were earned by students at roughly the same point in the national distribution — and published tables covering SAT totals from 400 to 1600 and ACT composites from 9 to 36.

Two updates since then matter less than people fear. The SAT went digital in 2024 (adaptive, shorter, same 400-1600 scale), and the College Board has kept the same concordance tables for score comparisons. A 1290 digital SAT still reads as an ACT 27. Below ACT 9 / SAT 590 there is no official concordance at all — both organizations consider the floor unmappable.

Which test should you take in the first place?

Since colleges convert and treat the scores identically, the choice should be about fit:

Time pressure: the ACT is faster per question — much faster in science and reading. Students who breeze through work often score relatively better on the ACT; deliberate thinkers often prefer the SAT.
Math depth: the SAT's math section digs into algebra and data analysis with a calculator for most of it; the ACT covers a broader spread including some trig and matrices. Strong algebra students lean SAT; broad-math students lean ACT.
Science section: the ACT has one, but it's really chart-reading and data interpretation — no biology or chemistry knowledge required. Don't pick or avoid the ACT over it without taking a practice section.
Guessing tolerance: neither test penalizes wrong answers anymore. On the margin, the ACT rewards pace; the SAT rewards care.

The standard playbook works: take one timed practice test of each on the same weekend, convert both scores with the concordance, and put your prep hours into whichever came out relatively higher. A two-point ACT gap or 40-point SAT gap in practice usually signals where your real score will land.

Which score should you send?

If you ended up with both an SAT and an ACT score, convert them to a common scale and send the stronger one — or both, if the college superscores. A student with a 1230 SAT (concords to ACT 26) and an ACT 27 should send the ACT; a 1330 SAT beats an ACT 28. Small gaps like one ACT point or 20-30 SAT points are a wash; send whichever has the better section balance for superscoring.

One hard rule: superscoring does not cross tests. A college will mix your best SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing with your best SAT Math across dates, but it will never splice an SAT Math score onto ACT sections. Pick a lane by junior spring and stay in it.

Do scholarships and athletics use the same tables?

Mostly, yes. NCAA eligibility converts SAT and ACT using the same concordance logic (its sliding scale lists both). Many merit-scholarship cutoffs — "1300 SAT or 28 ACT equivalent" — are written as concordant pairs, and financial aid offices apply the tables the same way admissions does. If a program publishes a cutoff on only one scale, converting with the official table tells you exactly where you stand; a 1300 meets a 28-ACT requirement because the tables say those scores are equivalent.

Frequently Asked Questions

What SAT score is a 30 on the ACT?

An ACT 30 concords to SAT 1360-1380, midpoint about 1370, per the official 2018 tables. Going the other way, any SAT total from 1360 to 1380 converts to an ACT 30.

Is a 1400 SAT better than a 31 ACT?

They're essentially tied. SAT 1400 sits in the 1390-1410 band that concords to ACT 31. To beat a 31 you'd need 1420+ on the SAT; to beat a 1400 you'd need a 32 on the ACT.

Do colleges prefer the SAT or the ACT?

No four-year college prefers either test. Admissions offices convert between them using the official concordance tables and evaluate the converted score identically. Choose based on which format suits you, not on perceived preference.

Can I superscore across the SAT and ACT?

No. Superscoring mixes your best sections across test dates of the same test. Colleges won't combine an SAT Math score with ACT scores, so pick one test (or convert both and send the stronger full score).

Why does one ACT score cover a range of SAT scores?

Scale size. The SAT has 121 possible totals (400-1600 in steps of 10) while the ACT composite has just 36 points. Concordance matches relative standing among test takers, so each ACT point absorbs a band of about three SAT totals — that's why ACT-to-SAT conversions report a range like 1260-1290 for ACT 27.