SAT Trends 2010

The 1,597,329 SAT takers in the graduating class of 2010 include all students who took the SAT through June 2010. The SAT college-bound seniors trend data have historically included students who took the SAT at any point in high school through March of their senior year, by which time almost all college-bound students had taken the test. Over the last five years, the College Board has observed a trend in which more students are taking the SAT for the first time in May or June of their senior year. This population of college-bound students has grown into a significant segment of nearly 50,000 students in the graduating class of 2010. The College Board believes it is important to acknowledge these students to truly complete the 2010 college-bound seniors cohort.

In order to provide a more complete view of the college-going population, the official 2010 college-bound seniors cohort of almost 1.6 million includes all students who tested through June of their senior year. To maintain consistency and reliability of year-over-year comparisons, the 2010 trend data details shown in this report continue to reflect information on the student population who tested through March of their senior year. Beginning in 2011, SAT college-bound trend reports, group profile reports and all state profile reports will include students who took the SAT at any point in high school through June of their senior year.

The table below provides score information for the student group through March and through June.

As the table shows, mean scores for the full-year group that includes May and June test-takers are marginally lower than the mean scores for the March group. This difference is driven by the fact that the population of "late-starting" test-takers has lower mean SAT scores than the March cohort test-takers.

The College Board, with the high school counseling community as its partner, will also be encouraging even more students to participate in the college planning process earlier in their high school careers in order to maximize available student choices.

The information in the charts and tables below is based on the number of students who responded to each corresponding question on the SAT Questionnaire, an optional questionnaire that most students complete when they register for the SAT.