About the SAT/ACT Concordance
This calculator converts a composite SAT score to its approximate equivalent ACT composite score, or an ACT score back to SAT, using a table of published concordance breakpoints rather than a continuous formula. It's useful for comparing scores across the two tests, since colleges that accept either exam generally treat concorded scores as roughly comparable for admissions purposes.
How It Works
Choose a conversion direction and enter a composite score. The calculator steps down an ordered table of SAT score breakpoints matched to ACT composite scores, finds the first breakpoint the entered score meets or exceeds, and returns the paired score on the other scale. Converting from ACT to SAT works the same way, matching the ACT score against the ACT side of the same table.
Examples
Converting an SAT Composite
A student with a 1200 SAT composite falls in the breakpoint band starting at 1180, which the table pairs with an ACT composite of 26.
Converting an ACT Composite
A student with a 29 ACT composite matches the breakpoint band starting at 29, which the table pairs with an SAT composite of 1300.
Advantages
- Gives a quick point of comparison when deciding which test score to submit to a college that accepts both.
- Uses a breakpoint table matched by percentile rather than a rough linear guess between the two scoring scales.
- Works in both directions from the same underlying table, so either test's score can be the starting point.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the converted score as exact rather than an approximate percentile match between two differently structured tests.
- Applying a composite-to-composite table to individual section scores, such as SAT Math alone, which the table isn't built for.
- Assuming a college automatically prefers whichever score converts higher, when many schools simply accept either test on its own terms.
Edge Cases to Watch For
- A score below the lowest listed breakpoint still returns the lowest paired value in the table (ACT 1 or SAT 400) rather than an error.
- The table covers a fixed set of breakpoints, so two nearby scores can sometimes fall in the same band and return the same converted result.
- These are concordance estimates based on matching score percentiles between two differently structured tests, not a mathematical conversion, so a converted score should be read as roughly comparable rather than identical in what it measures.
Common Use Cases
- Students who have taken both tests deciding which composite score is stronger relative to admissions expectations.
- Students who took only one test wanting a sense of how their score would compare on the other scale.
- Counselors explaining to a student or family how an SAT and ACT score relate to each other.