ACT to SAT Converter

How the ACT-to-SAT converter works

This tool reverses the 2018 ACT/SAT Concordance, turning an ACT composite (1–36) into an equivalent SAT total (400–1600). Because the ACT composite is a single integer and the SAT scale is finer-grained, each ACT score actually corresponds to an SAT range rather than a single number. The calculator returns the midpoint of that range so you get a clean, comparable total.

The 2018 concordance is the most recent joint publication from the College Board and ACT, Inc. It was built by comparing the performance of students who took both tests within a short time window and aligning the percentile distributions. It remains the standard reference that colleges and counsellors use when discussing score equivalence, even though neither organisation has released a newer table.

A worked example

Suppose your ACT composite is 30. The 2018 concordance maps 30 to approximately a 1360 SAT, in a published range of about 1360–1390. The calculator returns 1360 as the representative midpoint. An ACT 28 maps to around 1300 SAT; an ACT 25 maps to around 1200. At the top end, an ACT 36 (a perfect composite) aligns with about 1590 — essentially the SAT ceiling, since fewer than a fraction of a percent of testers hit 1600.

Range vs point value

The official 2018 table is a range table. An ACT 26 concordance says "1220–1230 SAT." A student with an ACT 26 could concord to either a 1220 or 1230 depending on which section strengths drove the composite. This calculator uses a single mid-point so you have a concrete number, but keep the range in mind when comparing your score to a college's published admissions profile. If a school's middle 50 is 1260–1410, an ACT 26 (mid-value 1230) sits below the bottom quartile; an ACT 27 (≈ 1260) lands at the bottom of the range.

When the conversion is useful

There are three common situations where the converter helps:

• Comparing against a college's admission profile. If a school reports only SAT middle-50 data, you can place your ACT composite in that distribution. Most admissions sites publish both, but not all.
• Choosing which test to submit. If you have taken both and one concords meaningfully higher than the other, submit that one (subject to each school's score-choice policy).
• Benchmarking a practice-test result. If you scored 28 on a practice ACT, the converter tells you roughly what SAT total that might look like — useful if your target college reports in SAT units.

When not to use it

Do not report a converted score on applications. Colleges want your actual test result and will do their own internal concordance if they need to compare against other applicants. Do not use the converter as a predictor of your future performance — taking the other test could easily put you a point or two outside the concorded range in either direction. And do not assume the conversion works at section level: the SAT Math to ACT Math mapping, for example, is a separate concordance with different values.

Common mistakes

• Treating the conversion as a single point rather than a range. The official 2018 table lists ranges; the mid-point returned here is a convenience.
• Expecting personal predictive accuracy. Concordance is population-level. Your own cross-test result could land outside the concorded range.
• Ignoring test version differences. The digital SAT reports on the same 400–1600 scale as the paper SAT, and the 2018 concordance is still the reference. But the test structure is different, and individual performance can vary across formats.
• Using section-specific ACT scores in the composite converter. Enter the composite, not a single section. The concordance compares composite to total.

What this calculator is not

This is a reference lookup tool. It does not predict how you will score on the SAT if you have only taken the ACT. It does not handle section-level concordance, and it does not adjust for recent test-format changes. Use it to compare scores — not to report, project, or replace either test's actual result.