We propose a class of symmetric modified accelerated overrelaxation (SMAOR) methods for solving large sparse linear systems. The convergence region of the method has been investigated. Numerical examples indicate that the SMAOR method is better than other methods such as accelerated overrelaxation(AOR) and modified accelerated overrelaxation(MAOR) methods, since the spectral radius of iteration matrix in SMAOR method is less than that of the other methods. Also, we apply the method to solve a real boundary value problem.