What Is a Good SAT Subject Test Score?

Simple question; complicated answer.

This sounds like a straightforward question, but actually it’s a little more complicated than it looks. What makes a good score varies by subject test, since populations and number of test-takers differ from test to test. Last year, for instance, over 140,000 students took the Math Level II Test, 67,000 students took the Literature Subject Test, and only 635 took the Subject Test in Italian.

As you’ll see below, most good scores for Subject Tests are in the 700s, but there are some other factors to consider as you set your target scores. Let’s take a look at the average scores and score percentiles for each SAT Subject Test, so you can know what’s a good score for each individual Subject Test.

While we’ll be looking at statistics and college requirements to answer this question, it’s also important for you to define what “good” means to you – with effort and preparation, you should be proud of the scores you ultimately achieve!

What Are the Average Scores?

Good SAT Subject Test scores tend to be a good deal higher than good scores on the general SAT, since highly academically achieving students tend to take the Subject Tests. This chart shows the average scores for each Subject Test. For a full breakdown of what these average scores mean, check out this article.

Subject Test	Mean Score
Korean with Listening	767
Chinese with Listening	759
Japanese with Listening	688
Math Level 2	686
Italian	684
Spanish with Listening	668
Physics	667
Chemistry	666
Spanish	656
Biology M	655
French with Listening	654
U.S. History	651
French	635
Biology E	626
World History	624
German with Listening	624
German	622
Math Level 1	621
Modern Hebrew	620
Latin	615
Literature	613

See how the average score for the Korean with Listening is an incredibly high 767? The average for Literature looks like a more reasonable 613.

So a “good” score would be higher than average, maybe even in the top 25% of test-takers, or top 5% if you’re shooting for the Ivy League.

Based on these averages, a score of 700 could mean completely different things depending on the test. It would be a strong score on the Literature test, but only slightly above average on the Math Level 2. And on the Korean with Listening test? A 700 would be way below average.

Now that you have a sense of the average scores for each test, and why they matter for your percentile, let’s look at the score percentiles for the Class of 2014.

What Are the Score Percentiles?

Along with getting a score somewhere between 200 and 800, you also get a score percentile, which compares you to other students who took the test. Scoring in the 80th percentile, for example, means that you scored higher than 80% of other students.

This chart shows how scores became percentiles for last year’s test-takers.

Literature, History, Math, and Science Subject Tests

Score	Literature	U.S. History	World History	Math Level I	Math Level II	Biology E	Biology M	Chemistry	Physics	Score
800	98	97	85	99	81	98	95	90	89	800
790	97	95	93	98	78	96	93	87	86	790
780	95	93	91	98	74	95	90	83	83	780
770	94	91	89	96	70	93	87	80	80	770
760	92	88	87	94	66	91	83	76	76	760
750	91	84	84	92	62	88	80	72	73	750
740	87	81	81	89	59	85	76	68	70	740
730	83	77	79	86	55	82	72	65	66	730
720	80	73	75	82	52	78	68	62	63	720
710	76	69	72	78	49	76	63	57	59	710
700	73	64	70	74	46	71	60	54	56	700
690	70	61	67	71	43	68	56	50	52	690
680	66	57	63	67	41	64	52	47	48	680
670	62	53	61	63	38	60	48	43	45	670
660	58	49	57	58	35	57	45	40	42	660
650	53	45	54	55	31	52	42	37	39	650
640	50	42	51	51	28	49	38	35	36	640

Language Subject Tests

Score	Chinese*	French*	German*	Japanese*	Korean*	Spanish*	French	German	Modern Hebrew	Italian	Latin	Spanish	Score
800	64	82	95	88	64	94	87	87	84	81	94	92	800
790	50	80	93	76	45	90	85	82	80	71	93	90	790
780	40	78	91	71	34	86	83	81	77	68	91	87	780
770	32	76	88	68	26	80	80	78	76	63	89	85	770
760	27	73	85	60	22	76	78	76	74	59	87	80	760
750	24	70	83	57	19	69	76	73	71	54	83	76	750
740	21	67	78	50	15	67	73	70	71	51	81	73	740
730	17	66	75	47	14	61	71	67	69	47	78	69	730
720	15	62	72	43	12	58	68	65	66	43	74	66	720
710	14	59	68	39	10	56	65	63	66	41	72	63	710
700	12	57	66	35	9	53	64	59	65	38	68	58	700
690	11	53	60	33	8	50	61	58	63	36	66	55	690
680	10	51	59	31	7	47	58	55	60	33	64	52	680
670	9	46	57	29	6	46	56	53	60	30	59	49	670
660	8	43	55	28	5	42	53	50	58	28	58	46	660
650	7	40	52	25	5	39	51	46	56	25	53	43	650
640	6	38	50	24	4	38	49	43	54	24	51	39	640

*with Listening

As you can see, there’s a lot of variation among the Subject Tests. That’s what makes answering the question, “What’s a good SAT Subject Test score?” a bit more complicated. Some tests are considered easier than others – check out the Easiest SAT Subject Tests here – and the grading curve can be more competitive depending on the population of test-takers.

Based on this data, here are my suggestions for good and excellent scores for each test. These are the scores you should aim for if you want to achieve in the 70th percentile or above, the 80th percentile or above, or the 90th percentile or above.

Good and Excellent SAT Subject Test Scores

Finally, the last way to identify a great SAT subject test score is to find which score you need to score at a certain percentile. We’ve compiled all of the scores you need to reach 70th, 80th, and 90th percentiles below:

Subject Test	70th %ile+	80th %ile+	90th %ile+
Literature	690	720	750
Biology E	700	720-730	760
Biology M	720-730	750	780
Chemistry	740-750	770	800
Physics	740	770	800
U.S. History	710-720	740	770
World History	700	740	770-780
Math Level 1	690	710-720	740-750
Math Level 2	770	790-800	800
French	720-730	770	800
German	740	780	800
Spanish	730-740	760	790
Modern Hebrew	730-740	790	800
Italian	780-790	790-800	800
Latin	700-710	740	780
French with Listening	750	790	800
German with Listening	710-720	740-750	780
Spanish with Listening	750-760	770	790
Chinese with Listening	800	800	800
Japanese with Listening	770-780	790-800	800
Korean with Listening	800	800	800

Some tests, like Math Level II, Physics, Chemistry, Chinese with Listening, Korean with Listening, and Italian, require almost perfect scores to get a high percentile! Don’t feel overwhelmed by this, however. A lot of these tests have high averages and low standard deviations, meaning most well-prepared students are able to get a high score near or above the average. So if these subjects are your strong suit, then you are statistically likely to be able to achieve a very high score.

On the flip side, if you’re not so strong in math, physics, or these other subjects, keep in mind that the grading curve is very competitive – you’ll be competing with students likely bound for top engineering and technical schools like CalTech and MIT. Reflect on your academic strengths and subject mastery to determine if one of these tests is right for you.

As mentioned earlier, good SAT Subject Test scores are higher than good scores on the general SAT. As you can see, to score in the 70th percentile or higher, you have to get in the 700s for almost all of the subject tests. The two exceptions are Literature and Math Level I, which are still pretty high around 690.

There is one more consideration when determining good scores on the SAT Subject Tests: the colleges you’re applying to. Your percentiles are comparing you to all students who took the test. But not all of these students are applying to the same colleges as you.

It’s helpful to get a sense of what the average Subject Test scores are for your colleges. What do they expect to see? Do admitted students usually score in the low 700s or high 700s? Will the college overlook a low percentile on a Subject Test if they know the grading curve for that test was particularly competitive?

Let’s consider these questions a little more in depth.

Investigate Your Colleges

As with all the other parts of your application, you want to know what your colleges are looking for. What SAT scores do you need? What do they consider a strong GPA? Unfortunately, colleges can be pretty evasive when it comes to giving you an exact answer to what you want to know. Instead, they stress that it’s a holistic process, that admissions officers are looking at all elements of your application to get a sense of you as a person.

While this is all well and good, and you wouldn’t want your candidacy to be boiled down only to facts and figures, it still leaves you a bit stuck when it comes to the SAT and SAT Subject Tests.

The first step you can take is researching the admissions websites of your colleges. Simply Google the name of the college, along with SAT Subject Tests or average SAT Subject Test scores, and you may find exactly what you’re looking for. If this is a dead end, you might try calling the admissions officers and asking if they will share this data, or at least their recommendations.

If you’re concerned about bothering them, don’t be! Lots of admissions officers have tons of valuable information and are happy to share – plus demonstrating that you have a vested interest in the college – by speaking to people on campus, going on visits, even just putting your name on email lists – will further strengthen your application. With the college process, there’s nothing helpful about playing hard to get. Put yourself out there!

Here is some information I’ve found on Subject Test scores for specific colleges. Based on this, you can assume that schools with similar selectivity and rankings will have similar expectations. Let me know in the comments if you know of any more schools I can add.

• MIT – admitted students score between 720 and 800 on their science Subject Test.
• Middlebury – students tend to score in the low to mid 700s on the Subject Tests.
• Princeton – average Subject Test scores are between 710 and 790.
• UCLA – the average best Subject Test score for students was 734.
• Williams – the top third of students scored between 750 and 800.

If your sights are set on the Ivy League, check out this article on the Subject Test scores and requirements for the Ivy League (coming soon).

Finally, let’s step outside the statistics and requirements and consider your own personal goals.

Customize Your Target Scores For You

What are your personal goals for the Subject Tests? Have you memorized the first hundred digits of pi, or are you always the one who calculates the tip at dinner? If you consider yourself a math whiz, then it might be very important for you to score highly on the Math Subject Test, not only to demonstrate your abilities to college, but because you know you can.

When I was in high school, I absolutely loved English class. Reading and analyzing books revealed new ways of thinking about the world and human relationships. Even when it was hard work, it was work I wanted to do.

This doesn’t mean I naturally was able to score a perfect score on the Subject Test. The Subject Test was a much different way to demonstrate subject mastery than my normal classwork, considering its strict time limits. But I felt driven to score well in this particular subject, so I studied practice questions and trained myself to read passages and answer questions under strict time limits.

By reflecting on your strengths and interests, as well as by taking practice tests and scoring them yourself, you can develop your own sense of what’s a good score for you. Once you’ve set your target scores, tape them to your wall so you see them everyday. Sharing your goals with friends, study buddies, or family is another good way to stay accountable.

Once you’ve set your goals based on this information and your colleges’ expectations, you can start preparing for the SAT Subject Tests you’ve chosen. College Board has a helpful breakdown of each Subject Test, as well as practice questions, here. Check out our other resources below to answer any other questions you have about the Subject Tests or the SAT.