Famous SAT Scores
By Nicole at University Language
Updated on Thursday, May 23, 2013
Category: Humor, Testing
What famous figure got a perfect SAT score – and which celebrity received a score less than 500?
Celebrities had to prepare for the SAT exam just like you, and their famous SAT scores might surprise you. Time Magazine lists some of these famous people who all went on to great success – even if you can’t tell by their SAT scores.
Remember that these scores are only from the Math and Verbal sections of the old SAT, for a possible total of 1600.
Highest Famous SAT Scores
Who has the highest famous SAT scores? No surprise here. Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen earned scores of 1590 and 1600, respectively. The average SAT score has increased in the last few years, making these scores even more impressive for their time.
Also in the top are famous political commentator Bill O’Reilly, with an SAT score of 1585, and political speechwriter Ben Stein, who scored a 1573. You might remember Stein from his game show Win Ben Stein’s Money and his famous comedic acting in the 1980s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, in which he played a boring but brainy professor. His famous high SAT score shows he has the smarts for the part!
Other celebrities with above average SAT scores include actress Natalie Portman, who allegedly received a score in the 1400s; and actor/musician Will Smith, who is rumored to have a perfect score but only admits to it being “pretty high.”
The Middle Ground
Famous horror author Stephen King and television host Meredith Vieira, of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and The Today Show, both scored in the 1300s on their SATs. In the same range is former vice-president Al Gore, who got a score of 1355.
Gore’s opponent in the 2000 election, then-President George W. Bush, famously scored a 1206 on his SATs. His challenger in 2004, Secretary of State John Kerry, scored a bit lower, earning an 1190. Bush and Kerry submitted these scores to the school they both attended: Yale University.
The Lower Scores
Kobe Bryant, famous shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, scored a 1080 on his SATs. Comedian Janeane Garofalo, who has also starred in films like The Cable Guy and Mystery Men, got a 950. Her score hasn’t affected her success: You can hear her voice in the recent animated movie Ratatouille (2007).
And who are the famous celebrities with the lowest SAT scores? Radio shock jock Howard Stern got an 870 on his SAT, placing him in the bottom.
But the celebrity with the infamously low score is Bill Cosby, who received less than a 500 on the test (the lowest-possible score at this time was a 400!). Cosby received acceptance to Temple University on a track scholarship, and later rose to become one of the school’s most famous alumni.
Success Beyond a Score
When interpreting your SAT scores, keep in mind that you are much more than the results of a test. However, don’t discount the need to try your hardest – a little preparing for the SAT never hurt anybody.
Earning a high SAT score is a great accomplishment, but these famous SAT scores show that you’re remembered more for what happens after you leave the testing room and get into the real world!
Meet your college match with the guidebook that simplifies your search for the perfect school. Find out what schools are out there – and which are right for you!
Improve your SAT score with the help of our new multiple choice Reading & Writing Quiz based on actual SAT tests!
January 8th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
this is fake… SAT scores are all divisible by 10
January 11th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Actually, it’s not fake, it’s just a different grading system. For people who graduated from high school before the early 1970s, there was a third digit (the ones digit) that varied from one person to the next. Current practice of rounding scores to the nearest ten better acknowledges the error band around each score.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
“Bill O’Reilly, with an SAT score of 1585, ”
LOL!!!!!! if anyone is dumb enough to believe Oreilly scored 1585 I have some beach front property in Mongolia I would like to sell them.
Now notice that this list has one thing in common. It tends to lists the higher scores to those who are conservatively leaning and the lower scores to those who are liberal leaning. This is yet another one of those fake chain emails being promulgated by right-wingers.
I will say though I believe the SAT scores for Allen and Gates are correct though.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:57 pm
We chose to post these particular SAT scores because they were the ones available to us (when researching), not based on any political bias.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
By pointing out which are conservatively leaning, you have shown your own bias — that conservatives cannot be intelligent.
Incidentally, the scores reported on this page, agree with those reported in other locations at other times.
August 18th, 2010 at 2:15 am
‘By pointing out which are conservatively leaning, you have shown your own bias — that conservatives cannot be intelligent. ‘
the question isn’t if conservatives can’t be intelligent. The question is there any way Bill Orelly could have scored 1585? No way at all. I doubt he could have score above 1000. I wonder if he took the test.
Polina. Researching? So tell us what the research consists of? Getting information from other websites that have all peddled along the same disinformation?
Its obviously fake. Only idiots would think this was true.
August 18th, 2010 at 10:22 am
As the blog post states, all the information was collected from Time Magazine.
September 3rd, 2010 at 11:04 am
to: LOLLLL_Bill_Oreilly1585_SAT_LOL!!
You are clearly an idiot. I am a huge liberal and Jon Stewart and Cobert are my heroes. That being said Bill O’Reilly most certainly could have attained that score. You may not agree with his points, but he is an intelligent well spoken man in his interviews. I bet he scored well on that test and bombed the “works-well-with-others” test.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:19 am
Not true, I believe that SAT scores were at one time—pre-1974—not necessarily divisible by 10. If you look carefully, the only scores that are not divisible by 10 come from people who clearly took the test before 1974. If you want to see how different IQ estimates are depending on when you took the test, compare Garofalo’s post 1974 score with Namath’s 730 from before 1974 here:
http://www.braingle.com/mind/iq/convert.php?year=1&satm=600&satv=606&grev=&greq=&calculate=Calculate+IQ
(Howard and Namath’s scores were both relatively better than Garofalo’s).
April 26th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
You’re not a liberal and only and idiot would claim
that “but he is an intelligent well spoken man in his interviews.”. This is a guy who consistently gets taken
in by the most idiotic claims(google “The Paris Business Review”). Only retard would believe most of those SAT
scores and specifically Oreilly. once again you’re an idiot idiot
May 28th, 2011 at 3:06 pm
Anyone who thinks a total moron like Oreilly got a 1585
on the SAT is even more of a moron than Oreilly. I bet
he didn’t even take the SAT. Beyond that where is the
actual evidence? Produce the actual SAT with the score
1585. What you demand Obama produce his birth certificate but accept at face value some moronic claim that Oreilly scored 1585 in his SAT you retard?
August 30th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
I went to school with O’Reilly, Chaminade in Mineola, Long Island. You guys can laugh all you want, call him an ass all you want, say whatever you want. But two things remain true, he’s a hell of lot more successful than you’ll ever be, and he really is, head and shoulders, your intellectual superior. Go ahead, check out some SAT scores for Chaminade graduates, scholarships earned, and National Merit awards.
You leftist clowns continue to live in a place where you believe simply hoping something makes it so. He could probaly kick your pansy asses, too.
January 12th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
I doubt O’Reilly got 1585.
I’m sure he did pretty well though. Much as I loathe him, he did go to Harvard. People don’t go to Harvard with a score, of say, 1000.
January 27th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
[...] an SAT score list of the rich and [...]
April 28th, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Izzy a right-wing idiot said
“and he really is, head and shoulders, your intellectual superior.”
Only an idiot would say that. This is the same idiot
O’reilly who essentially called Robert Reich a communist.
He consistently shows his ignorance by misusing such basic terms like “socialist”, “marxist” or “communist”.
You routinely claims taxes are too high while ignoring
the very easily verifiable fact that taxes as a share of the economy are the lowest since 1950, income taxes are the lowest since 1950 and overall tax burden is the lowest since 1958.
He isn’t just ignorant but damn ignorant on even the most basic facts. He also can’t seem to use basic induction and deduction.
But I’m not surprised that you would be advocating for
Oreilly. I mean an idiot who says “he could probaly kick your pansy asses, too.” would show the same kind
of juvenile idiocy that is so common in Oreilly. An idiot advocating for an idiot.
No surprises there
April 28th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Oh and
“Go ahead, check out some SAT scores for Chaminade graduates, scholarships earned, and National Merit awards.”
“check out”
You idiot. You just don’t “check out” people’s
SAT score as if they were open to the public.
You think they work that way? If you think so then
provide the evidence. Provide a reliable link
of that high school showing Oreilly’s SAT score
.
BTW has Oreilly even mentioned anything about his
SAT score?
Elitot Spitzer and Chuck Schumer have both been on
record as saying they received a 1590 and a perfect 1600 SAT respectively.
April 28th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
Dan says
“I doubt O’Reilly got 1585.
I’m sure he did pretty well though. Much as I loathe him, he did go to Harvard. People don’t go to Harvard with a score, of say, 1000.”
O’Reilly didn’t go to Harvard as an undergrad. He got a
Master of Public Administration at Harvard which at best might have asked for GRE scores. But a Master of Public Administration wouldn’t be like getting into the Physics program at Harvard where you would expect GRE scores to be high
Bottom line is O’Reilly didn’t come even close to
a 1585 SAT. NO way
January 5th, 2013 at 3:00 pm
Found this article via StumbleUpon. Thought it was a little interesting. What I thought was far more interesting is that someone has come back here several times over a span of two years to flame everyone that has attempted to defend Bill O’Reilly. You, sir, deserve a medal, and a brand new coloring book. Stay inside the lines