SAT ↔ ACT Converter
Convert between an SAT total and an ACT composite using the official concordance.
Based on the official SAT–ACT concordance (nearest score).
To convert an ACT score to the SAT, use the official College Board and ACT concordance, which pairs each ACT composite with an equivalent SAT total. An ACT composite of 27 maps to an SAT total of about 1280, and a 34 to about 1500. The pairing is published, not a formula, so treat it as comparable performance, not an identical result.
How the SAT–ACT conversion works
The SAT is scored from 400 to 1600; the ACT runs from 1 to 36. They measure overlapping skills on very different scales, so you cannot simply scale one into the other. Instead, the College Board and ACT jointly studied students who took both tests and published a concordance — a lookup table pairing each SAT total with the ACT composite that represents the same level of performance.
This tool reads that table directly. Enter a score in either direction and it returns the matching row, rounded to the nearest entry. The conversion is not a formula; it is the official published pairing.
Reading the table
To convert an ACT 27 to the SAT, find the 27 row and read across.
- 1 Pick your direction. Going from ACT to SAT, you look up the ACT row; going the other way, you find the closest SAT total.
- 2 Find the nearest row. An ACT composite of 27 maps to an SAT total of 1280.
- 3 Read the equivalent. So a 27 ACT is comparable to roughly a 1280 SAT — a college would treat the two as similar.
SAT–ACT concordance
Official College Board / ACT concordance midpoints; scores map to the nearest row.
| ACT composite | SAT total |
|---|---|
| 36 | 1590 |
| 35 | 1540 |
| 34 | 1500 |
| 33 | 1460 |
| 32 | 1430 |
| 30 | 1370 |
| 28 | 1310 |
| 26 | 1240 |
| 24 | 1180 |
| 22 | 1110 |
| 20 | 1040 |
| 18 | 970 |
| 16 | 890 |
| 14 | 800 |
| 11 | 670 |
When you need this conversion
You have one score but a school quotes the other. Many colleges publish middle-50% ranges in only one format. Converting lets you see where you sit in their range.
You are deciding which test to submit. If you have taken both, convert them to a common scale to see which is genuinely stronger before sending scores.
You are comparing with peers or past data. A friend’s ACT and your SAT only line up once they are on the same scale. If the data is from a pre-2016 test, convert it with the old SAT to new SAT converter first.
Caveats
The concordance shows comparable scores, not identical ones — a converted figure is an estimate of equivalent performance, not a guaranteed result on the other test. Colleges accept both tests on their own terms, so there is no penalty for submitting whichever is higher.