Is a 620 math SAT score decent?

Harvard students have an average of 690 on Math. Columbia students 680 and Georgetown students 630. By comparison, NYU has an average of 600 and UCLA has an average of 590. So it depends on what school you want to get into. Teen College Education

@marinelife Good point. I’ll probably start looking seriously at colleges half way through my Air Force career.

If you know of any good math strategies or books I’d appreciate that, too. Just in case I do decide to work on it.

It’s a more-than-decent score. The best books would be the practice SAT’s. I’m too busy now; just google “Practice SAT’s.)

No competitive college or university in the US will turn you down because of that math score. (They will find other reasons, if they want to.)

A 620 is at the 80th percentile overall; 75th percentile for men, 84th for women. It’s a pretty good score.

Importance of an SAT score drops with life experience such as serving in the Armed Forces. As you get closer to looking for particular schools, talk to the admissions people where you want to study.

Good luck and thank you for volunteering for the service!

Your question is too vague. What do you mean by “decent”? What does “good to compete with” mean? Without definitions, you’re likely to get people telling you what you want to hear (writing what you want to read).

Sounds good to me. Mine was in the 600’s, I don’t remember exactly. But, the other part, I think they called it verbal was lower. I think they look at the total score, not just the math.

Thanks for the input guys.

It’s decent, and well above average. My ASVAB score was 97 overall with 99s on the math sections, but I only got a 540 on the math section of the SAT. If you managed a 620, you’re competitive even without further study.

There are, of course, two other sections to the SAT: verbal and writing. They count, too.

And in my professional experience as a college placement counselor, I saw some bright kids with perfect SATS who were turned down at some of the top competitive colleges and universities.

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Sounds decent to me.

I’ve heard that the SAT scores really aren’t as important as most people think. Your math score does not matter as much as your high school grades and the combined SAT score. I’ve also heard that students that show evidence of good character can influence the college’s decision.

I’m confused because I thought the SAT’s had changed to a format where the highest possible scores on math and verbal are each 1200, rather than the older 800 maximum. Someone above said that a 620 is at the 80th percentile. So to be clear, are we talking about 620 out of a possible 1200 that’s at the 80th percentile?

Yes, it is a good score. That being said…
If you got this on your first try, that means you can do better. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could bump your score up 40 or 50 points just with practice. Keep practicing no matter what and you’ll get better. You should try to see what you are skipping and look for a pattern. If you find yourself having problems in certain areas of math, you can focus on those area.
Also, be careful of test taking techniques. A lot of them are useful if you are raising your score from 400 to 500 or 500 to 600 but since your score is higher, the techniques aren’t always as good.

@gasman We’re only talking about one portion of the test. There’s a math, reading, and writing section.

@roundsquare Okay I’ll keep my eye open for those techniques. Thanks for the heads up.