- A good score is one above a school’s 75th percentile; in range is between the 25th and 75th. A 1250 is in range at Texas A&M (1160 to 1390) and below the range at UT Austin and far below Rice.
- Merit tiers are a separate map from admission ranges: Texas Tech’s Presidential Merit bands change at 1300, 1400 and 1500, and Baylor’s Carr P. Collins scholarship has a 1310 floor.
- For a student at 1250, the 1300 line is 50 points away and crosses two published tiers, which is the strongest case for a retest in Texas.
- Every figure here carries its data year and source; several are marked [verify] because the schools’ own Common Data Sets are incomplete or outdated.
You scored a 1250, you’re deciding whether to sit the test again, and every “good SAT score” article gives you a national average that has nothing to do with the six schools on your list. A good SAT score in 2026 is one above a specific school’s 75th percentile, an in-range score sits between its 25th and 75th, and for a Texas student at 1250 the honest summary is: in range at Texas A&M, below range at UT Austin, far below Rice, and 50 to 60 points under the two merit tiers most worth chasing.
What follows is the map, school by school, with the data year and the source for every number, and then the retest decision itself. We’ve marked figures [verify] wherever a school’s own Common Data Set is blank or we couldn’t confirm the number on the school’s site this month.
Two different maps
Families usually look at one set of numbers, the middle-50 range, and treat it as the whole answer. There are two maps. They answer different questions. The middle 50 tells you who got in. The merit tiers tell you who got paid. A student can be comfortably inside a school’s admission range and 40 points short of its scholarship band, and the second fact is worth far more than the first.
The middle 50 is also a self-selected sample at test-optional schools, where only students with strong scores tend to submit. Rice’s range, for example, describes the 59% of enrolled students who sent an SAT score, not the whole class. Read every range with the submission rate in mind.
Merit tiers have the opposite problem. They’re published, precise and generous, and they change every year without much notice. Every dollar figure below should be confirmed on the school’s page before you plan around it.
Admission ranges at the three big names
| School | SAT middle 50% | Data year and source | Test policy | Automatic admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UT Austin | RW 630 to 740, Math 620 to 770 (section ranges; the Common Data Set leaves section C9 blank) [verify] | Fall 2024 enrolled first-years who sent scores, federal reporting via third-party summaries [verify] | Test required for all applicants | Texas residents in the top 5% of class for 2026 and 2027 entry (down from 6%), per UT admissions and the TEA notice |
| Texas A&M | 1160 to 1390, median 1280 | Fall 2025, Common Data Set 2025-26, section C9 | Test optional for fall 2027; intends to require for 2028 pending regents [verify] | Texas residents in the top 10% of class |
| Rice | 1510 to 1560 | Fall 2025, Common Data Set 2025-26; 59% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT | Test optional | None |
UT Austin is the awkward one. Its Common Data Set has left the score section blank for recent years, so the section ranges above come from what the university reports federally, as summarized by third parties, and we can’t point to a single UT page that states them. Treat them as approximate. The two sections’ 25th percentiles sum to about 1250 and the 75th to about 1510, but percentiles don’t add, so the total-score range is a little narrower than that at both ends.
What UT’s numbers do tell you is that a 1250 sits at or below the bottom of the enrolled range, and since UT requires a score from everyone, the score will be read. For a Texas resident outside the top 5%, that is the file a holistic reader sees. For a top-5% student, admission is automatic and the score matters for major placement and honors, not for the gate.
Texas A&M’s data is clean and recent. A 1250 is inside the middle 50 and about 30 points under the median. Because the school is test optional for fall 2027, a 1250 applicant can choose not to send it, and the question of whether to send becomes the question of whether the score helps the file. Below the median, it usually doesn’t.
Rice is a different test entirely. The enrolled range starts at 1510, and a 1250 is 260 points below that floor. No single retest closes that gap, and the honest advice for a 1250 applicant to Rice is that the test is not where the application will be decided.
Merit tiers at the schools that publish them
This is the map most families never see, and it’s where a retest usually pays for itself. Dollar figures are the ones we could find in November 2026 and are marked [verify] where we couldn’t confirm them on the school’s own page.
| School and award | SAT line | What it’s worth | Source and year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Tech, Presidential Merit Scholarship | Bands: 1200 to 1290, 1300 to 1390, 1400 to 1490, 1500 to 1600, with GPA tiers inside each | Top band listed at $9,000 a year at a 4.0 GPA on the admissions affordability page; lower bands [verify] | Texas Tech scholarships page, 2026-27 awards, “subject to change” |
| University of Houston, Tier One Scholarship | Recommended 1400 and top 10% of class; average fall 2024 awardee 1450 and top 3% | Full tuition and fees plus additional support [verify]; competitive, with an interview round | UH Tier One Scholars pages, fall 2024 cohort data |
| Baylor, Carr P. Collins Scholars | At least 1310 and top quarter of class | Minimum $6,000 a year, renewable three more years | Baylor program page |
| Baylor, Hankamer Scholars (business) | Recommended 1340 and 650 Math | Amount [verify] | Hankamer School of Business page |
| Baylor, enrolled range (for context) | 1170 to 1350, average 1267 | Admission range, not a scholarship | Baylor admissions page, 2024 first-years |
| UT Dallas, Academic Excellence Scholarship | No published SAT cutoff; scores submitted by the December 1 priority deadline are considered | Varies by cohort | UT Dallas enrollment pages |
Now put a 1250 on this map. At Texas Tech it’s in the lowest published band, 50 points from the next. Texas Tech also says a higher retest score can upgrade the award and that superscores count there, which makes it the most retest-friendly tier in the state [verify]. At Baylor it’s 60 points under the Collins floor, which carries at least $24,000 over four years, and inside the enrolled range, so admission is likely and the money is the question. At Houston it’s 150 points from the Tier One recommendation, which is a different scale of project.
The pattern is that the 1300 line is where the Texas merit map changes for a student at 1250. Cross it and the Texas Tech band moves; cross 1310 and Baylor’s floor is behind you. Fifty to sixty points is a very ordinary gain for a 14-week program, and it’s a very specific one, which matters for how you’d prepare.
Should a 1250 retest
Yes, in most cases. Here is the reasoning rather than the slogan. A retest is worth doing when three things are true together: a published line sits within reach, the calendar has at least eight and preferably 14 weeks in it, and a question-by-question review of the 1250 shows the misses concentrated in a few types rather than spread evenly.
The first condition is already met for most Texas lists. The 1300 line at Texas Tech and the 1310 line at Baylor are 50 to 60 points away, and both are worth real money. If the list is only UT Austin and Rice, the case is weaker: UT reads the score holistically with no published line, and Rice is out of range for any single retest.
The second condition is a calendar question and our backward-planned calendar handles it. The short version is that the March 6, May 1 and June 5, 2027 sittings are all reachable with a full program for a junior starting now.
The third condition is the one that decides how big the gain can be. A 1250 on College Board’s scale is typically about 28 to 32 missed questions out of 98 across Reading and Writing and Math, with the exact number depending on the form; the structure is published at satsuite.collegeboard.org. To gain 60 points you need to remove roughly six to eight of those misses. Count the misses first. If the review shows eight misses in two Math topics and six in two Reading and Writing question types, that’s a program. If it shows one miss in each of 30 different places, the gain comes more slowly and the target should be set accordingly.
What a retest shouldn’t be
A retest without changing anything is a coin flip around the same number. College Board’s scores are reliable enough that a student who takes the same preparation into a second sitting usually lands within 30 or 40 points of the first, in either direction. The retest is only worth the Saturday if the weeks before it were spent on the specific types from the review.
A retest also shouldn’t chase a school where the score won’t matter. For the top-5% Texas resident applying to UT, the score is read for placement and honors; for a Rice applicant at 1250, a 1320 changes little. Put the retest effort where a published line is within reach.
Rick’s note: when a family brings me a 1250 and a list with Texas Tech or Baylor on it, I usually point at the 1300 line and say that’s the job. It’s concrete, it’s funded, and the question types that get a student from 1250 to 1310 are almost always the same five or six. The first hour is where I check whether they’re yours.
How to build the table for your own list
Take every school on the list and find two numbers: the middle 50 from the school’s most recent Common Data Set (search the school’s name plus “Common Data Set” and look at section C9), and any published scholarship score lines from the school’s financial aid or scholarships page. Write down the data year next to each. Date every number. Where the Common Data Set is blank, as at UT Austin, note that and use the school’s own admissions page or federal reporting, and mark it approximate.
Then place your score on each row: above the 75th, inside the middle 50, or below the 25th, and the distance to the nearest merit line in points. The schools where you’re inside the range and under 100 points from a tier are where the retest pays. The schools where you’re already above the 75th need nothing from the test. The schools where you’re far below the 25th need a different conversation, and the score is not where it starts.
What to do this week
- List every school you’re considering and pull its most recent Common Data Set section C9 and its scholarship page. Write the data year next to each figure.
- Place your 1250 on each row and note the distance to the nearest published merit line.
- Count your misses by question type from the score report or Bluebook review. Check whether three types hold more than a third of them.
- If a line is within 100 points and the calendar has 14 weeks, pick a 2027 test date. Register before the deadline.
- Bring the score report and the list to a free first hour. Rick will say which line is realistic and which types get you there.
Questions people ask
What SAT score do I need for UT Austin?
There’s no cutoff. For fall 2024 enrolled first-years who sent scores, the middle 50% was about 630 to 740 in Reading and Writing and 620 to 770 in Math, per federal reporting [verify]. Texas residents in the top 5% of their class for 2026 and 2027 entry are admitted automatically regardless of score; everyone else is reviewed holistically, and UT requires a test score from all applicants again.
What SAT score do I need for Texas A&M?
Texas A&M’s 2025-26 Common Data Set reports a middle 50% of 1160 to 1390 with a 1280 median for fall 2025 first-years who submitted scores. The school is test optional for fall 2027 entry and has said it intends to require scores again for 2028 entry pending its regents [verify]. Top 10% Texas residents are admitted automatically.
Is 1250 a good SAT score?
It depends on the list. A 1250 is inside the middle 50% at Texas A&M, Baylor and Texas Tech, below it at UT Austin, and well below it at Rice. For merit aid, 1250 sits in Texas Tech’s 1200 to 1290 Presidential Merit band, 50 points below the next band, and 60 points below Baylor’s Carr P. Collins floor. That’s why 1250 is such a common retest score.
Do Texas schools superscore the SAT?
It varies and changes, so check each school’s admissions page. Texas A&M has stated it considers the highest total from a single test date rather than combining dates, and the University of Houston has stated the same for scholarship review [verify]. Don’t assume a superscore anywhere until you’ve read the school’s own policy.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each school’s Common Data Set section C9 where it exists, federal reporting where it doesn’t, and each school’s own scholarship pages for merit tiers. The data year is listed in the table. We mark [verify] where we could not confirm a figure on the school’s own site in November 2026.