With many students having just taken the October SAT or the PSAT, students and parents are now playing the waiting game: SAT scores come back in just a matter of days. Here is some information on score release dates, and what to do with your scores once you have them.
October 7th SAT scores begin to be available online on October 20th, 13 days after the test administration. Scores will continue to be released through October 26th. This turnaround time represents a marked improvement from that of last year, when students often had to wait up to 33 days for scores. Essay scores will be released a few weeks later.
These October scores are the last scores that can be reliably used for ED1 (Early Decision Round One) applications. Scores from the November and December test dates will still work for ED2 and Regular Decision applications, whose deadlines typically fall in early or mid-January.
Please note that the January SAT date no longer exists… It was replaced by the August test date. Some colleges used to accept January scores from senior year, but that is no longer an option. January was also a popular first test for independent school students, many of whom are now first testing in December and/or March of junior year.
PSAT scores take longer to come out – six to eight weeks from the test date. The scores first become available to school counselors on December 4th, a week before scores are sent electronically to students. Then, scores become available to students electronically on December 11th through the College Board website.
If you are waiting for PSAT scores, remember to create a Khan Academy account in the meantime. Then, once you receive your scores, you can export them to Khan Academy, which will analyze your results for you and give you targeted practice questions to work through. These KA accounts are completely free and can be created using Google or Facebook.
As always, let us know if you have any questions. Enjoy Fall!
