But that's not to say that the caliber of the students doesn't play an important role in what makes a school great. So we expanded our ranking to the top-100 schools in the country and filtered our data, the most recent available from the Department of Education, to find which colleges boast students with the highest average SAT scores. For schools that traditionally accept the ACT, those scores have been translated to the equivalent SAT score.
With an average score of 1534, CalTech topped the list, jumping 40 spots from its ranking on the main list. University of Chicago and MIT followed, moving up 21 and 3 spots, respectively, from their positions on the original ranking. Read on to see the full list of the schools with the highest SAT scores in the US.
22. Brown University
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Average SAT score: 1425
Brown students have the freedom to personalize their liberal-arts course study, a practice the school calls "open curriculum." Brown was founded in 1764 on the then-unprecedented idea of accepting students regardless of religion. It was also the first Ivy League school to establish an undergraduate engineering program in 1847.
21. Tufts University
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Average SAT score: 1428
Tufts University is made up of three undergraduate schools: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. Students have the option to choose from about 150 majors and minors and participate in one or more of Tuft's 341 student organizations. In the Experimental College, students go beyond the typical classroom environment, taking courses such as "Circus and Society" or "American Witches."
20. Carnegie Mellon University
Location: Pittsburgh
Average SAT score: 1432
Located in the heart of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University carries on the traditions of Scottish founder and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Besides academic excellence, that also includes Pipes and Drums, a bagpipe-only band, and Kiltie Band, a quirky marching band that dons kilts for every performance. The school is also known for its top-notch engineering program, and offers majors in everything from chemical engineering to engineering and public policy.
19. Amherst College
Location: Amherst, Massachusetts
Average SAT score: 1434
Amherst College offers an open curriculum — students design a schedule full of the courses that interest them, granting the flexibility to double major or explore multiple interests. Graduates join a bevy of nearly 23,000 living alumni whom they can network with directly even before graduation through Pathways, a mentorship program that helps students arrange one-on-one meetings and on-site job shadowing.
18. Williams College
Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Average SAT score: 1439
At Williams College, civic engagement is part of the core mission, and the school aims to heighten each student's ability to improve his or her community, as exemplified through local outreach programs and alternative spring break trips. Students also gain hands-on experience through experiential courses, which range from teaching fourth-graders about zebrafish to public speaking to learning traditional Thai silk and cotton weaving.
17. University of Pennsylvania
Location: Philadelphia
Average SAT score: 1442
Founded in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania stands as one of the most selective schools in the US, accepting just 10.2% of applicants. During their time at UPenn, students can take advantage of the school's vast resources, including 6.38 million books, 1.16 million e-books, and 136 research centers and institutes, which are accompanied by an annual research budget of $878 million to boot.
16. Duke University
Location: Durham, North Carolina
Average SAT score: 1444
Duke University places an emphasis on research, providing students with numerous avenues to pursue projects through research grants, travel opportunities, and apprenticeships with distinguished professors — and more than half of its undergraduates take advantage. Upon graduation, Duke students join the ranks of notable alumni such as Melinda Gates, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, and former "Nightline" anchor Dan Abrams.
15. Dartmouth College
Location: Hanover, New Hampshire
Average SAT score: 1446
Dartmouth encourages students to pursue a globally focused education, and the school's flexible calendar — made up of four 10-week terms — lets students decide which seasons to spend on campus and which to take off to travel, volunteer, complete an internship, or conduct research. The Office of Undergraduate Research connects students with faculty mentors, helping any undergraduate interested in research find a project to pursue.
14. University of Notre Dame
Location: South Bend, Indiana
Average SAT score: 1450
University of Notre Dame students become part of a storied history, where carrying on school traditions is a built-in part of the experience: Pep rallies, homemade-boat races, and masses at chapel are among the activities available during students' four years on campus. Graduates join the ranks of notable alumni who came before them, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, and author Nicholas Sparks.
12. (TIE) Pomona College
Location: Pomona, California
Average SAT score: 1454
The founding member of the Claremont Colleges — a consortium of five undergraduate colleges and two graduate schools — Pomona College is a liberal-arts school offering close to 50 majors in arts, humanities, and sciences. The selective private school is one of the most affordable on our list, with an annual net cost (the cost of tuition minus the average financial aid award) of $12,557.
12. (TIE) Rice University
Location: Houston
Average SAT score: 1454
Rice University is home to pioneering applied sciences programs, including nationally recognized nanotechnology and biomedical engineering departments. The only Texas college on our list was founded in 1912 and is the youngest of the 10 best colleges.
11. Northwestern University
Location: Evanston, Illinois
Average SAT score: 1458
With more than 500 clubs and organizations to join, including a capella groups and the student-run newspaper, there's no shortage of ways for Northwestern students to get involved on campus. On the academic side, Northwestern sponsors several opportunities for innovation, including two startup incubators and a certificate program in entrepreneurship specifically targeted at undergraduates.
10. Stanford University
Location: Stanford, California
Average SAT score: 1466
Known for the proliferation of technology companies spurred from students' time on campus, Stanford boasts top-notch computer science and engineering programs, with specialties offered in areas like atmosphere and energy as well as biomedical computation. The school's four-to-one ratio of students to teachers ensures that every student interacts closely with professors and receives personal attention.
9. Columbia University
Location: New York City
Average SAT score: 1471
The oldest university in the state, Columbia called several locations across New York City home after its founding in 1754 — including a schoolhouse adjacent to Trinity Church in the financial district and a 40-year occupation in Midtown — before settling into its iconic campus on 116th Street. Students who wish to continue their education past their undergraduate years can look to Columbia's renowned graduate programs in business, law, and journalism.
8. Washington University in St. Louis
Location: St. Louis
Average SAT score: 1474
Each year, Washington University supports more than 3,000 research projects, ranging from medical and health to innovation and entrepreneurship. The majority of WashU's more than 6,800 undergraduates study in the arts and sciences school, while nearly 1,000 students enroll in the university's high-ranking undergraduate business program at Olin Business School.
7. Vanderbilt University
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Average SAT score: 1475
American business and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt established his namesake university in 1873. Since then, Vanderbilt's high-ranking undergraduate program has produced hundreds of notable alumni, including two NASA astronauts, best-selling novelist James Patterson, and Ann Moore, the first female CEO of Time Inc.
6. Princeton University
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Average SAT score: 1495
Princeton has trained a barrage of successful graduates, including 15 Nobel Prize winners, 10 National Humanities Medal winners, and 21 National Medal of Science winners. The prestigious Ivy League institution also counts President John F. Kennedy, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and author F. Scott Fitzgerald among its many distinguished alumni.
5. Yale University
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Average SAT score: 1497
The second-oldest Ivy League school, Yale aims to provide students with a strong liberal-arts education. Its undergraduate college puts an emphasis on four areas — arts, sciences, international studies, and writing — and offers more than 70 majors, including astronomy, theater studies, and economics. It's also one of the hardest schools to get into, with an acceptance rate of just 6%.
4. Harvard University
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Average SAT score: 1501
Synonymous with prestige since its founding 380 years ago, Harvard University remains one of the most respected schools in the world — and a degree from the college reflects that. Though Harvard's annual tuition (including fees and room and board) is a steep $60,659, nearly 70% of students receive some type of financial aid — thanks to the school's $37.6 billion endowment — trimming the average student's annual net cost to just over $14,000.
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Average SAT score: 1503
The country's most renowned engineering school, MIT sees 22% of undergraduates go on to pursue jobs in the field. Graduates secure positions at tech powerhouses such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Oracle. Even more impressive, the MIT community includes 85 Nobel laureates, 58 National Medal of Science winners, and 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation winners.
2. University of Chicago
Location: Chicago
Average SAT score: 1504
Since oil magnate John D. Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago in 1890, the private school has established a global presence with international centers in Beijing, New Delhi, Paris, and Hong Kong. UChicago's undergraduate program is recognized for preparing students to continue on to graduate school, with more than 15% of undergraduates eventually earning a Ph.D.
1. California Institute of Technology
Location: Pasadena, California
Average SAT score: 1534
One of the most respected science and engineering schools in the world, Caltech manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded space research facility that led the successful mission to land the Curiosity rover on Mars in 2012. But the intimate, 1,000-student private school is accomplished in more than just science. As a certified olive-oil distributor, Caltech harvests on-campus olive trees to produce up to 150 gallons of oil annually.
