Top Colleges and Universities (2010-2011)
The SAT college placement exam is a standardized test that comprises three sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. Each section of the SAT is worth a total of 800 points; therefore, a perfect score is 2400.
Ranking colleges and universities by average SAT scores is a sound methodology for several reasons. First, the SAT is an objective measure of each student body's readiness for college. Second, year after year there is an especially strong inverse correlation between average SAT scores and institutional acceptance rates; that is, colleges and universities whose enrollees have the highest average SAT scores are far and away the most selective institutions. Finally, it is implicitly recognized that SAT scores are the gold standard when applying to elite colleges and universities. By way of example, last year 91% of enrollees at Princeton University proffered SAT results with their applications while only 31% submitted scores from the competing ACT exam. And, even in the Midwest where sitting for the ACT exam is more prevalent, a far greater percentage of enrollees at both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University tendered SAT scores with their applications rather than ACT results.
The following are the top colleges and universities in the United States along with their locations, average SAT scores, acceptance rates, and enrollment rates. Schools with limited courses of study or "open admissions" policies are not included in these rankings.
1. Top Colleges and Universities: California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Location: Pasadena, California
Average SAT Score: 2270
Acceptance Rate: 13%
Enrollment Rate: 36%
2. Top Colleges and Universities: Yale University
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Average SAT Score: 2255
Acceptance Rate: 8%
Enrollment Rate: 67%*
3. Top Colleges and Universities: Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Average SAT Score: 2245
Acceptance Rate: 7%
Enrollment Rate: 76%
4. Top Colleges and Universities: Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Average SAT Score: 2235
Acceptance Rate: 9%
Enrollment Rate: 57%
5. Top Colleges and Universities: Columbia University
Location: New York, New York
Average SAT Score: 2215
Acceptance Rate: 10%
Enrollment Rate: 57%*
6. Top Colleges and Universities: University of Chicago
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Average SAT Score: 2210
Acceptance Rate: 19%
Enrollment Rate: 38%
7. (tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Average SAT Score: 2205
Acceptance Rate: 10%
Enrollment Rate: 64%
Top Colleges and Universities: Dartmouth College
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Average SAT Score: 2205
Acceptance Rate: 13%
Enrollment Rate: 48%*
8. (tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Pomona College
Location: Claremont, California
Average SAT Score: 2200
Acceptance Rate: 15%
Enrollment Rate: 40%
Top Colleges and Universities: Harvey Mudd College
Location: Claremont, California
Average SAT Score: 2200
Acceptance Rate: 23%
Enrollment Rate: 31%
9. (tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Stanford University
Location: Stanford, California
Average SAT Score: 2185
Acceptance Rate: 7%
Enrollment Rate: 71%
Top Colleges and Universities: Washington University in St. Louis
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Average SAT Score: 2185**
Acceptance Rate: 21%
Enrollment Rate: 31%
10. Top Colleges and Universities: Duke University
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Average SAT Score: 2180
Acceptance Rate: 15%
Enrollment Rate: 41%*
11. (tie) Top Colleges and Universities: University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Average SAT Score: 2165
Acceptance Rate: 14%
Enrollment Rate: 63%
Top Colleges and Universities: Amherst College
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Average SAT Score: 2165
Acceptance Rate: 15%
Enrollment Rate: 40%
12. (tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Swarthmore College
Location: Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Average SAT Score: 2160
Acceptance Rate: 16%
Enrollment Rate: 40%
Top Colleges and Universities: Northwestern University
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Average SAT Score: 2160
Acceptance Rate: 27%
Enrollment Rate: 31%
13. (3-way tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Brown University
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Average SAT Score: 2150
Acceptance Rate: 9%
Enrollment Rate: 53%
Top Colleges and Universities: Vanderbilt University
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Average SAT Score: 2150
Acceptance Rate: 18%
Enrollment Rate: 41%
Top Colleges and Universities: Rice University
Location: Houston, Texas
Average SAT Score: 2150
Acceptance Rate: 21%
Enrollment Rate: 36%
14. Top Colleges and Universities: Tufts University
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Average SAT Score: 2145
Acceptance Rate: 24%
Enrollment Rate: 35%
15. Top Colleges and Universities : Williams College
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Average SAT Score: 2140**
Acceptance Rate: 19%
Enrollment Rate: 44%
16. Top Colleges and Universities: Bowdoin College
Location: Brunswick, Maine
Average SAT Score: 2110
Acceptance Rate: 20%
Enrollment Rate: 43%
17. Top Colleges and Universities: University of Notre Dame
Location: Notre Dame, Indiana
Average SAT Score: 2105
Acceptance Rate: 29%
Enrollment Rate: 49%
18. Top Colleges and Universities: Haverford College
Location: Haverford, Pennsylvania
Average SAT Score: 2100
Acceptance Rate: 26%
Enrollment Rate: 38%
19. Top Colleges and Universities: Carleton College
Location: Northfield, Minnesota
Average SAT Score: 2095
Acceptance Rate: 31%
Enrollment Rate: 34%
20. Top Colleges and Universities: Wesleyan University
Location: Middletown, Connecticut
Average SAT Score: 2090
Acceptance Rate: 22%
Enrollment Rate: 34%
21. (3-way tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Emory University
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Average SAT Score: 2085
Acceptance Rate: 30%
Enrollment Rate: 28%*
Top Colleges and Universities: Johns Hopkins University
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Average SAT Score: 2085
Acceptance Rate: 22%
Enrollment Rate: 32%
Top Colleges and Universities: Middlebury College
Location: Middlebury, Vermont
Average SAT Score: 2085
Acceptance Rate: 17%
Enrollment Rate: 42%
22. (3-way tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Georgetown University
Location: Washington, D.C.
Average SAT Score: 2084**
Acceptance Rate: 20%
Enrollment Rate: 42%*
Top Colleges and Universities: Cornell University
Location: Ithaca, New York
Average SAT Score: 2084**
Acceptance Rate: 18%
Enrollment Rate: 48%
Top Colleges and Universities: Claremont McKenna College
Location: Claremont, California
Average SAT Score: 2084**
Acceptance Rate: 17%
Enrollment Rate: 43%
23. (3-way tie) Top Colleges and Universities: Vassar College
Location: Poughkeepsie, New York
Average SAT Score: 2080
Acceptance Rate: 24%
Enrollment Rate: 36%
Top Colleges and Universities: Carnegie Mellon University
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Average SAT Score: 2080
Acceptance Rate: 33%
Enrollment Rate: 29%
Top Colleges and Universities: Reed College
Location: Portland, Oregon
Average SAT Score: 2080
Acceptance Rate: 43%
Enrollment Rate: 20%
24. Top Colleges and Universities: Hamilton College
Location: Clinton, New York
Average SAT Score: 2075
Acceptance Rate: 29%
Enrollment Rate: 33%
25. Top Colleges and Universities: Washington and Lee University
Location: Lexington, Virginia
Average SAT Score: 2070
Acceptance Rate: 19%
Enrollment Rate: 37%
*Extrapolated from 2009-2010 data.
**Some of the top colleges and universities do not report SAT Writing scores. In such cases, scores were statistically imputed from Critical Reading scores.
Source(s):
"COLLEGE Navigator," ies NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
"College Search," College Boards
Published by J.C. Grant
A writer interested in education, finance, health, history, law, music, polemics, politics, satire, sports, statistics, travel, and trivia. View profile
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7 Comments
Post a CommentInteresting!
What, my alma mater NC State didn''t make the list? I call shenanigans! LOL. And my wife attended Vassar so clearly I married a smarty pants, so there!
Nice to see Vassar made the list - they are right in our backyard! cheers :)
Wonderful..... :o)
Most interesting.
Great stats:)
Very interesting!