How Much You Need to Improve to Maintain Your Percentile Rank

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When students receive their PSAT and SAT scores, they often want to put those scores into context. One way to look at the context of your scores is through percentiles.

College Board provides two types of percentile ranks: National Representative Sample and User. The User Percentile presents a more accurate picture of how a student compares to other college-bound students—it also requires a bit of digging to find. The User Percentile appears on students’ online reports.

Percentiles reflect the percentage of students at or below each score. In order to maintain a percentile rank achieved on the sophomore PSAT, a student must increase subsequent scores.

For instance, 1140 on the PSAT in 10^th grade would place a student in the 86^thpercentile, but to maintain that position, the student would need to achieve 1240 on the junior PSAT and 1290 on the SAT—an increase of 150 points.

The 86^th percentile means that 14% of students performed better than the student. If this student wanted to cut that percentage in half, ultimately ranking in the 93^rd percentile, she would need to achieve 1380 on the SAT—a 240-point increase from the 10^th grade PSAT.

The following table is designed to allow you to track user percentiles and scores from sophomore PSAT to the SAT.

Percentile	10th Grade PSAT	11th Grade PSAT	SAT	Percentile
99+	1440–1520	1490–1520	1550–1600	99+
99	1370–1430	1460–1480	1500–1540	99
98	1320–1360	1430–1450	1470–1490	98
97	1290–1310	1400–1420	1450–1460	97
96	1270–1280	1380–1390	1430–1440	96
95	1250–1260	1360–1370	1410–1420	95
94	1230–1240	1340–1350	1390–1400	94
93	1210–1220	1320–1330	1380	93
92	1200	1310	1360–1370	92
91	1190	1290–1300	1350	91
90	1180	1280	1340	90
89	1170	1270	1330	89
88	1160	1260	1310–1320	88
87	1150	1250	1300	87
86	1140	1240	1290	86
85	1130	1220	1290	85
84	1120	1220	1280	84
83	1110	1210	1270	83
82	1110	1200	1260	82
81	1100	1190	1250	81
80	1090	1190	1240	80
79	1080	1170	1230	79
78	1080	1170	1220	78
77	1070	1160	1220	77
76	1060	1160	1210	76
75	1060	1150	1210	75
74	1050	1140	1200	74
73	1050	1140	1190	73
72	1040	1130	1180	72
71	1030	1120	1180	71
70	1030	1120	1170	70
69	1020	1110	1170	69
68	1020	1110	1160	68
67	1010	1100	1150	67
66	1000	1100	1150	66
65	1000	1090	1140	65
64	990	1080	1140	64
63	990	1080	1130	63
62	980	1070	1120	62
61	980	1070	1120	61
60	970	1060	1110	60
59	970	1060	1110	59
58	960	1050	1100	58
57	960	1050	1100	57
56	950	1040	1090	56
55	950	1040	1090	55
54	940	1030	1080	54
53	930	1030	1080	53
52	930	1020	1070	52
51	920	1010	1060	51
50	920	1010	1060	50
49	910	1000	1050	49
48	910	1000	1050	48
47	900	990	1040	47
46	900	990	1040	46
45	890	980	1030	45
44	890	980	1030	44
43	880	970	1020	43
42	880	970	1020	42
41	870	960	1010	41
40	870	960	1010	40
39	870	950	1000	39
38	860	940	1000	38
37	850	930	990	37
36	850	930	980	36
35	840	920	980	35
34	840	920	970	34
33	840	920	970	33
32	830	910	960	32
31	830	900	950	31
30	820	900	950	30
29	820	890	940	29
28	810	890	940	28
27	810	880	930	27
26	800	870	920	26
25	800	870	920	25
24	790	860	910	24
23	790	850	900	23
22	780	850	900	22
21	780	840	890	21
20	770	830	880	20
19	770	830	880	19
18	760	820	870	18
17	760	810	860	17
16	750	810	860	16
15	750	800	850	15
14	740	790	840	14
13	740	790	830	13
12	730	780	820	12
11	730	770	810	11
10	720	760	800	10
9	710	750	790	9
8	710	740	780	8
7	700	730	770	7
6	690	720	760	6
5	680	710	750	5
4	660–670	700	730–740	4
3	650	680–690	710–720	3
2	620–640	650–670	690–700	2
1	550–610	590–640	640–680	1
1-	320–540	320–580	400–630	1-

SOURCES: College Board, SAT Understanding Scores 2018 and PSAT/NSMQT Understanding Scores 2018.

How Much You Need to Improve to Maintain Your Percentile Rank

About Ash Kramer

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