How Long Does It Take To Get Sat Results

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The SAT score release dates are always tense for students. Did you get the score you were aiming for? Do you have to take the SAT again? Checking scores immediately when they come out gives you the most time to plan ahead.

In this article, find out when you'll receive your SAT score report depending on your test date, and learn the fastest way to check your SAT score.

How Long Does It Generally Take to Get Your SAT Scores?

SAT scores are typically viewable online starting 13 days after your test date. SATs are taken on Saturdays, and scores generally come out on the second Friday after your test. (Note that the summer test date in June takes longer than this—about five weeks.) Colleges generally receive your SAT scores within 10 days of online score release.

When Do SAT Scores Come Out? Full Schedule

The tables below list every SAT score release date and test date for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 testing years. The 2021-2022 dates are confirmed by the College Board, while the 2023 dates are based on our best estimates until the College Board confirms them.

2021-22 SAT Score Release Schedule

Test Date	Score Release Date	Colleges Receive Scores By
August 28, 2021	September 10, 2021	September 20, 2021
October 2, 2021	October 15, 2021	October 25, 2021
November 6, 2021	November 19, 2021	November 29, 2021
December 4, 2021	December 17, 2021	December 27, 2021
March 12, 2022	March 25, 2022	April 4, 2022
May 7, 2022	May 20, 2022	May 30, 2022
June 4, 2022	July 9, 2022	July 19, 2022

2022-23 SAT Score Release Schedule

Test Date	Score Release Date	Colleges Receive Scores By
August 27, 2022	September 9, 2022	September 19, 2022
October 1, 2022	October 14, 2022	October 24, 2022
November 5, 2022	November 18, 2022	November 28, 2022
December 3, 2022	December 17, 2022	December 27, 2022
March 11, 2023	March 24, 2023	April 3, 2023
May 6, 2023	May 19, 2023	May 29, 2023
June 3, 2023	July 8, 2023	July 18, 2023

SAT School Day Score Release Schedule

What if you take the SAT on a school day, though? Here's an overview of when you can expect to get your scores. The test dates and score release dates have been confirmed by the College Board.

Test Date	Score Release Date	Colleges Receive Scores By
October 13, 2021	November 3, 2021	November 13, 2021
October 28, 2021	November 19, 2021	November 29, 2021
March 2, 2022	March 24, 2022	April 3, 2022
March 23, 2022	April 15, 2022	April 25, 2022
April 13, 2022	May 4, 2022	May 14, 2022
April 26, 2022	May 18, 2022	May 28, 2022

With school day testing, you'll receive your SAT scores 21-28 days after your test date, and colleges will get your scores within 10 days after that.

What Time Do SAT Scores Come Out?

Scores are released as early as 5 am Eastern Time (or 2 am Pacific Time). However, depending on your account and test date, you might get your scores later in the day. Ultimately, try not to worry too much about exactly when you'll get your score!

When Do SAT Scores Get to Schools?

If you put down a college as the recipient of one of your four free score reports, that school will get your scores within 10 days of the online release of your complete score report. Additional score reports (those you order more than nine days after you take the SAT) can take one to two weeks to process before they're sent to schools.

Colleges get score reports from the College Board once a week, usually on Wednesdays. Scores are sent out by the College Board on a rolling basis as you request them.

Students concerned about their scores getting to schools in time can opt for rush reporting. With this option, scores only take two to four business days to process and are delivered to schools three times a week (usually Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). However, the College Board can't send SAT scores to schools until your test has actually been scored, which will be on the first score release date for your test date at the earliest.

So what's the takeaway here? Unless you can already view your SAT scores online and have a deadline less than three weeks away, it's probably not worth rushing your SAT scores.

How to View SAT Scores

The fastest way to get access to your SAT results is online through your College Board account. If you don't have a College Board account, learn how to create one here.

To view your SAT scores, sign into your account on the College Board homepage:

Next, click on "My SAT" to get to your SAT scores:

You'll then be taken to a page with your SAT results for each time you've taken the test:

For a more detailed dive into how to get your SAT scores, take a look at our step-by-step guide.

Why Does It Take So Long to Get My SAT Score?

It might feel as though SAT grading shouldn't take as long as a couple of weeks. But because hundreds of thousands of students take the SAT on each test date, there are a lot of steps involved in order for you to finally get your SAT results.

Here's an overview of what happens to your test once you take it:

Your test is delivered to the College Board scoring headquarters.

Your answer sheet is scanned and your raw score is calculated, based on how many questions you got right or wrong.

Your raw score is then converted to the 1600 scale using that test's scaling rubric.

As you're one of many thousands of students taking the SAT, getting everyone's test scores ready within just a few weeks is obviously a big feat!

Wouldn't it be great if you could get your score right after the test? This might happen in the future if the test is administered on computers, which is how graduate exams such as the GRE work.

SAT Results: 2 Options for Next Steps

You now know when SAT scores come out, but what should you do once you have your SAT results? Here a couple of options to consider, depending on your score.

Low Score? Retake the SAT

If you're unhappy with your SAT results, you might want to consider retaking the test. But whether or not a retake is worth it for you depends on two main factors: your target score and how much you'll be able to improve your score on a second attempt.

Your SAT goal score is, in short, determined by the average SAT scores of students at the schools you want to apply to. If your SAT results fall short of your target score, then you might want to retake the test to give yourself a better chance of getting into the schools you've chosen.

However, according to data released by the College Board, it's about even odds that if you retake the SAT, your score will either stay the same (10% of students) or drop (35% of students). Therefore, to successfully raise your SAT score on a retake, you'll have to study effectively and for a significant amount of time.

For example, spending 10 hours doing a couple of practice tests in-between SATs likely won't be enough to give you a significant score boost. Instead, you'll need to focus on your weak areas and tailor your prep toward those areas in order to see maximum score gains.

Overall, if you're willing and able to put in the time and effort to improve your SAT score, it's worth it to retake the SAT. If not, then all you'll be doing is wasting money and four hours on a Saturday morning!

Solid Score? Send SAT Score Reports to Colleges

If you're satisfied with your SAT results, the next step is to send your scores to the colleges you're applying to. Use our complete list of college codes to make sure your scores get to the right place.

What's Next?

Ready to retake the SAT but haven't decided on a date yet? Use our continually updated SAT test dates article to see when the next test is being offered. We've also analyzed the best SAT test dates to help you choose the right one for you.

How well do you need to do on the SAT to get into college? Find out with our guides to what the average SAT score for college is and the lowest SAT score possible that'll get you into college.

When's the latest you can take the SAT to have your score get to colleges by their deadlines? Learn what the last SAT test date for early admissions is as well as how late you can take the SAT if you're applying regular decision.

Also, click below to get our popular guide to improve 160 points on your next SAT:

Get eBook: 5 Tips for 160+ Points

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About the Author

As co-founder and head of product design at PrepScholar, Allen has guided thousands of students to success in SAT/ACT prep and college admissions. He's committed to providing the highest quality resources to help you succeed. Allen graduated from Harvard University summa cum laude and earned two perfect scores on the SAT (1600 in 2004, and 2400 in 2014) and a perfect score on the ACT. You can also find Allen on his personal website, Shortform, or the Shortform blog.