Which colleges have the highest average SAT score?

First is Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1,560. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is Georgetown University at 1,487.

Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?

No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.

Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?

45 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The 50 colleges with the highest average SAT score

Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports the highest average SAT of any four-year college in the federal file, at 1,560. The table below is the 50 highest of the 990 four-year US colleges that report an SAT average, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. Every figure on this page is computed from the federal file when the page is built. See the method below for which colleges are counted and what each number is.

Updated 17 September 2026. Written and maintained by NudgeEssay; how facts on this site are sourced and corrected is on the about page.

The 50 colleges

Ranked on average sat, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. 45 of the 50 have a NudgeEssay page carrying their essay prompts word for word, and those names are links. A dash means the federal file carries no figure for that college, not a zero.

The 50 colleges with the highest average SAT score
#	College	Where	Average SAT	Admit rate
1	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,560	4.5%
2	University of Chicago	Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit	1,554	4.5%
3	Columbia University in the City of New York	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,553	4.0%
4	Harvard University	Cambridge, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,553	3.6%
5	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, MDPrivate nonprofit	1,553	6.4%
6	Princeton University	Princeton, NJPrivate nonprofit	1,553	4.6%
7	Rice University	Houston, TXPrivate nonprofit	1,553	8.0%
8	Stanford University	Stanford, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,553	3.6%
9	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PAPrivate nonprofit	1,553	5.4%
10	Vanderbilt University	Nashville, TNPrivate nonprofit	1,549	5.9%
11	Duke University	Durham, NCPrivate nonprofit	1,548	5.7%
12	Brown University	Providence, RIPrivate nonprofit	1,546	5.4%
13	Carnegie Mellon University	Pittsburgh, PAPrivate nonprofit	1,546	11.7%
14	Harvey Mudd College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,545	12.7%
15	Cornell University	Ithaca, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,535	8.8%
16	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NHPrivate nonprofit	1,534	5.4%
17	Pomona College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,534	7.1%
18	Swarthmore College	Swarthmore, PAPrivate nonprofit	1,534	7.5%
19	Yale University	New Haven, CTPrivate nonprofit	1,534	3.9%
20	Amherst College	Amherst, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,533	9.0%
21	Northwestern University	Evanston, ILPrivate nonprofit	1,533	7.7%
22	Williams College	Williamstown, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,533	8.3%
23	Washington University in St Louis	St. Louis, MOPrivate nonprofit	1,530	12.1%
24	Claremont McKenna College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,527	9.6%
25	Barnard College	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,520	8.8%
26	Bowdoin College	Brunswick, MEPrivate nonprofit	1,520	7.1%
27	Emory University	Atlanta, GAPrivate nonprofit	1,520	10.7%
28	Franklin W Olin College of Engineering	Needham, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,520	25.2%
29	New York University	New York, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,520	9.2%
30	University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, INPrivate nonprofit	1,520	11.3%
31	Wellesley College	Wellesley, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,520	14.1%
32	Carleton College	Northfield, MNPrivate nonprofit	1,517	20.4%
33	Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland, OHPrivate nonprofit	1,513	36.5%
34	Haverford College	Haverford, PAPrivate nonprofit	1,513	12.4%
35	Tufts University	Medford, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,513	11.5%
36	Colgate University	Hamilton, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,508	13.9%
37	Middlebury College	Middlebury, VTPrivate nonprofit	1,508	10.8%
38	Boston College	Chestnut Hill, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,507	16.4%
39	Hamilton College	Clinton, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,506	13.6%
40	Colby College	Waterville, MEPrivate nonprofit	1,501	7.1%
41	Wesleyan University	Middletown, CTPrivate nonprofit	1,501	16.5%
42	Smith College	Northampton, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,500	21.0%
43	Washington and Lee University	Lexington, VAPrivate nonprofit	1,498	14.0%
44	Northeastern University	Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit	1,497	5.2%
45	University of Richmond	University of Richmond, VAPrivate nonprofit	1,497	22.2%
46	University of Southern California	Los Angeles, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,495	9.8%
47	Vassar College	Poughkeepsie, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,494	18.6%
48	Scripps College	Claremont, CAPrivate nonprofit	1,492	38.3%
49	University of Rochester	Rochester, NYPrivate nonprofit	1,488	40.1%
50	Georgetown University	Washington, DCPrivate nonprofit	1,487	12.9%

Method

Source: the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17 from the bulk download. Every college in it reports these figures to the US Department of Education itself.

SAT_AVG in the College Scorecard is the average SAT equivalent score of admitted students, on the 1600 scale, for one entering class. It is an average of one cohort, not a cutoff and not a requirement.

Counted: the federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used on this page family. 144 private for-profit institutions are excluded, and 236 reporting fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 990 met this page’s criteria and the table shows the top 50.

574 colleges in the pool report no SAT average. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last.

The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted. No admission probability is stated anywhere on this site, because none can be derived from public data: colleges do not publish admit rates conditional on a score, so any single percentage would be invented. The free chance me tool and college finder sort a list into reaches, targets and likelies from the same federal figures and give no percentage either.

The federal file behind this family carries no earnings column, so no list here says anything about what graduates are paid. Rather than estimate one, this site says what is missing. What one named college costs after aid, income band by income band, is on its own page in the cost family. Our own essay dataset, which is a different source, is described on the supplemental essay data page.

Questions

Which colleges have the highest average SAT score?: First is Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 1,560. The 50 colleges listed are ranked on the figure the college reported to the US Department of Education, from the College Scorecard file pulled on 2026-09-17. The last place shown, number 50, is Georgetown University at 1,487.
Where does this ranking come from?: From the US Dept of Education College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data, pulled on 2026-09-17. SAT_AVG in the College Scorecard is the average SAT equivalent score of admitted students, on the 1600 scale, for one entering class. It is an average of one cohort, not a cutoff and not a requirement. The ordering on this page is the federal figure and not our opinion. No college paid to appear here and nothing is weighted.
Which colleges are counted and which are left out?: The federal file carries 1,944 institutions under the filter PREDDEG=3 (bachelor-predominant) AND CURROPER=1 (operating). 1,564 are used here: 144 private for-profit institutions and 236 with fewer than 250 undergraduates are excluded, because at that size a reported admit rate describes a small specialised applicant pool rather than selectivity. 990 of those met this page's criteria and the table shows the top 50. 574 colleges in the pool report no SAT average. The federal file carries no figure for them, so they are absent rather than ranked last.
Does this say anything about how good these colleges are?: No. This page orders colleges on one number a college reported to the federal government. It is not a quality ranking, it carries no survey, no reputation score and no weighting, and it says nothing about teaching, outcomes or fit. A cheaper college is not a better college and a more selective one is not either. It also states no admission probability, because none can be derived from public data.
Can I see what essays these colleges ask for?: 45 of the 50 colleges in this table have a NudgeEssay requirements page carrying their 2026-27 essay prompts word for word, with word limits, application deadlines and the date each was read on the college's own admissions site. Those college names in the table are links. The rest are in the federal file but not in our prompt dataset, so each of their names links to its federal record instead.

The other rankings in this set

All computed from the same federal file, pulled on 2026-09-17, with the same pool and the same exclusions.

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