Most Selective School In Your State?

SAT scores doesn’t tell everything but still can tell a lot about academic standard of a student, a college and a state. Its interesting how SAT scores for most selective school in different states vary from 900-1560.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/111341626

Alabama: Birmingham Southern College SAT 1145

Alaska: University of Alaska Fairbanks
SAT 1150

Arizona: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott SAT 1240

Arkansas: Lyon College SAT 1132

California: California Institute of Technology SAT 1560

Colorado: United States Air Force Academy SAT 1300

Connecticut: Yale University SAT 1520

Delaware: University of Delaware SAT 1230

Florida: University of Miami SAT 1325

Georgia: Emory University SAT 1435

Hawaii: Brigham Young University-Hawaii SAT 1172

Idaho: Northwest Nazarene University SAT 1130

Illinois: University of Chicago SAT 1530

Indiana: University of Notre Dame SAT 1445

Iowa: Grinnell College SAT 1410

Kansas: Sterling College 985

Kentucky: Alice Lloyd College SAT 985

Louisiana: Tulane University of Louisiana SAT 1410

Maine: Colby College SAT 1420

Maryland: Johns Hopkins University SAT 1510

Massachusetts: Harvard University SAT 1525

Michigan: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor SAT 1415

Minnesota: Carleton College SAT 1445

Mississippi: Mississippi College SAT 1180

Missouri: Washington University in St Louis SAT 1520

Montana: Rocky Mountain College SAT 1030

Nebraska: Midland University SAT 994

Nevada: University of Nevada-Las Vegas SAT 1135

New Hampshire: Dartmouth College SAT 1495

New Jersey: Princeton University SAT 1500

New Mexico: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology SAT 1290

New York: Columbia University in the City of New York SAT 1490

North Carolina: Duke University SAT 1460

North Dakota: Minot State University SAT 1122

Ohio: Case Western Reserve University SAT 1430

Oregon: Reed College SAT 1405

Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania SAT 1490

Puerto Rico: University of Puerto Rico-Carolina SAT 1022

Rhode Island: Brown University SAT 1488

South Carolina: Clemson University SAT 1305

South Dakota: Augustana University SAT 1180

Tennessee: Vanderbilt University SAT 1505

Texas: Rice University SAT 1535

Utah: Brigham Young University-Provo SAT 1310

Vermont: Middlebury College SAT 1415

Virginia: Washington and Lee University SAT 1420

Washington: University of Washington-Seattle Campus SAT 1305

West Virginia: Davis & Elkins College SAT 1000

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin-Madison SAT 1365

Wyoming: University of Wyoming SAT 1165

List of All Average State SAT Scores

Here are the most recent average SAT scores for all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

State Participation Rate EBRW
Math Total
Alabama 7% 583 560 1143
Alaska 41% 556 541 1097
Arizona 31% 569 565 1134
Arkansas 6% 582 559 1141
California 63% 534 531 1065
Colorado 100% 518 506 1024
Connecticut 100% 529 516 1046
Delaware 100% 499 486 985
District of Columbia 94% 495 480 975
Florida 100% 516 483 999
Georgia 71% 538 519 1058
Hawaii 54% 550 550 1100
Idaho 100% 505 488 993
Illinois 100% 509 504 1013
Indiana 66% 543 537 1080
Iowa 3% 622 622 1244
Kansas 4% 618 623 1241
Kentucky 4% 620 612 1232
Louisiana 5% 610 591 1200
Maine 99% 512 502 1013
Maryland 82% 535 523 1058
Massachusetts 81% 559 561 1120
Michigan 100% 507 496 1003
Minnesota 4% 636 648 1284
Mississippi 3% 628 608 1237
Missouri 4% 622 615 1236
Montana 9% 603 596 1199
Nebraska 3% 628 631 1260
Nevada 20% 580 576 1156
New Hampshire 95% 533 526 1059
New Jersey 82% 544 545 1090
New Mexico 18% 543 530 1073
New York 79% 531 533 1064
North Carolina 51% 554 546 1100
North Dakota 2% 627 636 1263
Ohio 19% 550 548 1097
Oklahoma 22% 490 472 963
Oregon 51% 562 550 1112
Pennsylvania 70% 545 537 1082
Puerto Rico — 483 462 944
Rhode Island 100% 503 492 995
South Carolina 68% 526 504 1030
South Dakota 3% 633 635 1268
Tennessee 7% 618 602 1220
Texas 68% 515 507 1022
Utah 4% 614 615 1230
Vermont 66% 560 546 1106
Virgin Islands — 490 445 935
Virginia 68% 567 551 1119
Washington 70% 539 535 1074
West Virginia 99% 483 460 943
Wisconsin 3% 635 648 1283
Wyoming 3% 623 615 1238
Source: The College Board

Re: #1

The SAT scores look inversely correlated to the percentage taking the SAT (versus ACT or neither).

That makes sense as the only kids taking SAT in Iowa, for example, are the ones that are expected to do well in it. Everybody else is just taking an ACT and calling it good. I know I was the only one to take it in my class and it was because I was NMF.

SAT is tougher to ace but ACT and SAT averages for any state isn’t all that different.

State Participation Composite
Alabama 100% 18.9
Alaska 38% 20.1
Arizona 73% 19
Arkansas 100% 19.3
California 23% 22.6
Colorado 27% 23.8
Connecticut 22% 25.5
Delaware 13% 24.1
District of Columbia 32% 23.5
Florida 54% 20.1
Georgia 49% 21.4
Hawaii 80% 19
Idaho 31% 22.5
Illinois 35% 24.3
Indiana 29% 22.5
Iowa 66% 21.6
Kansas 72% 21.2
Kentucky 100% 19.8
Louisiana 100% 18.8
Maine 6% 24.3
Maryland 28% 22.3
Massachusetts 21% 25.5
Michigan 19% 24.4
Minnesota 95% 21.4
Mississippi 100% 18.4
Missouri 82% 20.8
Montana 100% 19.8
Nebraska 100% 20
Nevada 100% 17.9
New Hampshire 14% 25
New Jersey 25% 24.2
New Mexico 63% 19.3
New York 22% 24.5
North Carolina 100% 19
North Dakota 96% 19.9
Ohio 100% 20
Oklahoma 100% 18.9
Oregon 42% 21.1
Pennsylvania 17% 23.6
Rhode Island 12% 24.7
South Carolina 78% 18.8
South Dakota 75% 21.6
Tennessee 100% 19.4
Texas 39% 20.5
Utah 100% 20.3
Vermont 20% 24.1
Virginia 21% 24
Washington 24% 22.1
West Virginia 49% 20.8
Wisconsin 100% 20.3
Wyoming 100% 19.8
National 52% 20.7

As with the SAT, higher ACT participation appears to correlate to lower average score. Consider MS and RI, for example.

@CupCakeMuffins what is the goal of this post?

Why does it matter and why include this hype for students and families?

They are already anxious and don’t need more stress.

Not every post is of interest to everyone. If you think it’s irrelevant to process of college admissions or find it objectionable, report it to a moderator.

I thought it was kind of interesting. I wouldn’t have any idea what some of the top schools might be in a state like Montana or Alaska.

I wonder where USA Today got some of those numbers. A quick Google search suggests that average SAT at U of Montana and U of Nebraska exceed those at Rocky Mountain and Midland by a good margin.

Re #9, though the OP has chosen to emphasize standardized scoring in her comments, note that the original analysis considered both standardized scoring and acceptance rate characteristics to approximate difficulty of admission. For a more general version of the analysis, see https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/40090323.