More than 80 percent of all four-year colleges and universities require SAT scores as a part of a student’s application for admission. Why?

Colleges and universities use SAT scores as an objective means to compare students attending different high schools. It’s easiest to make this point using an example. Imagine a university admissions officer who is considering the applications of two students, Joe and Marshall. Both Joe and Marshall have strong A averages in their respective high schools, but Joe goes to a school that allows him to take lunch as a graded course, while Marshall’s school makes its students take extremely difficult classes such as Advanced Chaos Theory and Apache Module Software Development. Suddenly, Joe’s A and Marshall’s A look very different.

But how is the university admissions officer supposed to know that Marshall’s A was so much more difficult to attain than Joe’s? That’s where the SAT comes in. Since Marshall took much more difficult classes, he will have better verbal and math skills and will likely get a better score on the SAT. The SAT therefore serves as a consistent standard by which colleges can measure all students against each other.

There are two things you need to know about how colleges use the SAT in making their admissions decisions. First, 20 to 30 point differences on the SAT really don’t matter. Colleges recognize that 20 points on the SAT might be a matter of a single lucky guess. So don’t sweat 20 points. Differences in scores of more than 50 points will be significant to admissions officers, since it’s unlikely that differences of that magnitude result from chance or luck.

Second, your SAT scores are not the only part of your application that an admissions officer considers. Colleges also scrutinize high-school grades and course load, extracurricular activities, college essays, and letters of recommendation, as well as subject-specific SAT II tests and Advanced Placement tests. Admissions officers are even interested in less quantifiable things, such as your leadership capacity, athletic ability, or musical talent. Mediocre SAT scores will not necessarily destroy your chances of attending the college of your choice if the other aspects of your application are strong. Similarly, excellent SAT scores might not assure you acceptance if you took easy classes and didn’t participate in any extracurricular activities.

In other words, when you think about the SAT, think about it in context. The test is a very important part of your college application since it allows a college admissions officer to see you in relation to all of your peers on a national scale. Also, because an SAT score is quantifiable, it’s often the first thing an admissions officer will notice about your application. But SAT scores are only one part of what an admissions officer will see. Colleges and universities are eager to create communities of engaged, interesting students who will inspire each other. An admissions officer is therefore more likely to admit an exciting, vibrant, well-rounded individual than a mope who scored 50 points higher on the SATs.

Finally, you should know that not all schools treat SATs in the same way. In general, larger universities often rely more heavily on the SATs than smaller ones do, simply because larger schools have to deal with so many more applications for admission.