The Colleges With The Highest SAT Scores

High school students across the country compete each year for spots at the most selective universities. They need high GPAs and well-rounded extracurricular activities on their resumes, but a stand-out SAT score is crucial to get into a top school, and could even make or break an application.

We compiled a list of the 25 colleges with the highest SAT scores. This 2013-2014 preliminary data came from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The NCES data gave us the 25th and 27th percentiles for each test section, which we then averaged and added up to get the average overall score for each school.

25. (TIE) Carleton College

Average SAT Score: 2135

Critical Reading: 705

Math: 725

Writing: 705

Carleton College is a highly ranked liberal arts school in Northfield, Minnesota, with about 2,000 undergraduate students.

25. (TIE) Carnegie Mellon University

Average SAT Score: 2135

Critical Reading: 690

Math: 745

Writing: 700

Carnegie Mellon has an urban campus located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and accepts just 27.8% of its applicants.

23. (TIE) Amherst College

Average SAT Score: 2155

Critical Reading: 715

Math: 725

Writing: 715

Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, is ranked No. 2 among liberal arts colleges in the U.S., according to U.S. News.