SAT to ACT Converter
Convert between SAT and ACT scores from the official concordance, by total or by section.
SAT to ACT Converter
tipsforstudents.org
400 to 1600
ACT composite
Enter a score
What a concordance actually is
Equivalent scores, not a better score
A concordance table lines up the two tests so you can compare a score on one against a score on the other. When ACT and the College Board ran millions of students who had taken both tests through the numbers, they found which SAT score and which ACT score represented the same level of achievement. That pairing is what this tool looks up.
The key word is equivalent. A concordance does not turn a weak score into a strong one, and switching tests will not move you up it. If your SAT concords to a 29, your ACT is very likely to land around a 29 as well, because that is what equivalent means.
Why the two directions disagree
The reason this tool holds two tables
Convert an SAT of 1600 and you get an ACT of 36. Convert that 36 back and you get 1590, not 1600. That is not a bug, it is how the official tables work: each direction was built separately, so neither is the exact reverse of the other.
Most quick converters online store one table and flip it for the other direction, which produces small but real errors. This one uses the correct table for whichever way you are converting, so the number matches what a college would get looking you up.
The Enhanced ACT wrinkle
Worth understanding if you tested in 2025 or later
Starting in spring 2025, the ACT changed. Science became optional, and the composite score is now the average of English, Math and Reading only, where it used to average all four sections including Science.
The concordance tables were built on the old composite. Updating them needs data from students who have taken both the Enhanced ACT and the digital SAT, and that has not been gathered yet, so no new tables exist. A converted Enhanced ACT composite is therefore close but not official. If you took the ACT before spring 2025, or you took it with Science, none of this affects you and the conversion is exact.
Which score should you send?
Reading the conversion in context
Nearly every US college accepts both tests and uses concordance tables to compare applicants fairly, so you send whichever score is stronger for you. There is no school that quietly prefers one test, whatever the rumors say.
The section view is the more useful part of this decision. If you are much stronger in math than in reading, converting section by section can show that one test lines up better with how you score. Once you know your target, the GPA calculator and our college profiles, which list the middle 50 percent score range for each school, tell you how your number compares where you are applying.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to what students ask most
Which concordance does this use?
The 2018 ACT/SAT concordance tables, produced jointly by ACT, Inc. and the College Board. These are the only official tables and are not updated each year, so the conversions do not drift over time.
Why is SAT to ACT different from ACT to SAT?
Because the tables are not symmetric. An SAT of 1600 concords to an ACT of 36, but an ACT of 36 concords back to an SAT of 1590, not 1600. Each direction was calibrated on its own, so this tool holds a separate table for each way rather than reversing one, which is where simpler converters go wrong.
Does the digital SAT change the conversion?
No. When the SAT moved fully digital in 2024, the College Board kept the same 400 to 1600 score scale, so the 2018 concordance applies to digital SAT scores without any adjustment.
What about the new Enhanced ACT?
This is the one caveat worth knowing. From spring 2025 the ACT made Science optional and now calculates the composite from English, Math and Reading only. The concordance tables were built on the older four-section composite, and no updated tables have been released, so a converted Enhanced ACT score is close but not official. The tool shows this warning next to every result.
How do the section conversions work?
SAT Math maps to ACT Math directly. Reading and Writing is different: the SAT gives one combined score, while the ACT has separate English and Reading scores, so the table maps SAT Reading and Writing against the sum of the two ACT sections on a 2 to 72 scale. It cannot be split back into a single English or Reading number.
Should I switch tests based on this?
A concordance tells you where you stand, not which test suits you. The scores it produces are equivalent by design, so a conversion alone will not make one test look easier. Section conversions are more useful for that decision, since they show whether your strengths line up better with one test’s structure.
Do colleges accept either test equally?
Almost all US colleges accept the SAT and the ACT equally and use concordance tables themselves to compare applicants who took different tests. Submit whichever score is stronger for you. No school prefers one test, whatever you may have heard.
What if my score is too low to convert?
The official tables only cover the range where the tests were concorded. Very low scores fall below that range, so instead of inventing a number the tool says the score is off the concordance range.