SAT Question!

[CubaTBird]

Okay I just the sat for the 2nd time and have a question. The last time i took it i got like 520 on the math and 575 on the eng. Now, when i get my scores back from the 2nd test lets say i get 500 on the eng and 600 on the math. Wouldn't they add the two best scores together to get a combined score? the 600 and the 575 right? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[musicpyrite]

I haven't taken the SATs, but I wouldn't think they would to that.... I could be wrong though.

Anybody know what the average for math and English is? I'll be taking them in about a year, and I'm already starting to worry.

[friarbayliff]

Um, no

Each instance of taking the SAT is independant from the other. The fact that you got a higher score on one half in the previous test does not affect your score on the second test. Sorry, but your 500-600 stands.

[yellow]

SAT "average scores" (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883611.html)

[mlw1235]

Wouldn't they add the two best scores together to get a combined score? the 600 and the 575 right? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:


Depends on the college. I wish they would do that for my ACT...I would have at least a 32!! Instead, I'm stuck with a 26 high score.


This thread only reminds me more to pull out that PSAT booklet for wednesday....ahhh I just love procrastination!!
;) ;)

[King Cobra]

lets say i get 500 on the eng and 600 on the eng.

Hehe, I just had to quote that. :D


It amazes me how little the English section of the PSATs or the SATs reflect upon college writing abilities. I got a 300 on both my PSATs and SATs in the English section; on the PSATs, I answered all the questions, but on the SATs, I left blank the ones I wasn't sure of. I got the same score. It amazes me that people can answer the questions correctly and know so many definitions presented to them. 80% of the words in the anology section of either test have words I've never seen before. When I got the results of my SATs, I saw that I scored at the bottom 4% of all English SAT takers. I would have done better if I never answered any of the questions in the English section, as that would put me at around 320. I was either a Junior or Senior at H.S. at the time.

I took College Writing my first semester at college, and got a B for the class, which is above average writing at a college level.

[Freg3000]

I haven't taken the SATs, but I wouldn't think they would to that.... I could be wrong though.


Most colleges (and every one I've heard of) takes you best combined score.

[beez7777]

they take your highest math score and combine it with your highest verbal score to get your best composite score and go by that.

[Abstract]

SAT "average scores" (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883611.html)

In the US, there are only 4 types of people: male, female, black, and white. Yup, just about sums it all up. Stupid American buttholes. Should have included asian students, as oriental people will make up 50% of the US population in 15 years. Plus they'd kill on the maths section. ;) But that would look "White" look bad, so that would never be done.

[runplaysleeprun]

In the US, there are only 4 types of people: male, female, black, and white. Yup, just about sums it all up. Stupid American buttholes. Should have included asian students, as oriental people will make up 50% of the US population in 15 years. Plus they'd kill on the maths section. ;) But that would look "White" look bad, so that would never be done.

i think you need to make your own thread.
"How whitey is keeping me down"

[homerjward]

SAT "average scores" (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883611.html)
hmm...we're getting dumber in english and smarter math and i bet we have computers to thank for that. not necessarily bad though. i took it in 7th grade as part of the duke TIP program along with most of my friends and everyone agreed the math was easier except me...

[themadchemist]

Most colleges take the highest combined. The theory behind this is that everyone has a bad day, but you can't do better than your best, and therefore, your best defines your overall potential (especially when you average that potential out over 4 years of collegiate performance, which is what the SAT is supposed to predict). Therefore, the best guess of how you will usually do as compared to others is to compare your best performance to others', both because it should be closer to your potential but also because it defines an absolute maximum at which everyone can be measured evenly.

[Kwyjibo]

Should have included asian students, as oriental people will make up 50% of the US population in 15 years.

quite impossible, right now Hispanic/ Mexican cultures are the fastest growing minority in america. 15 years is a very short time for a population trend to change that quickly.

[JFreak]

as a non-american i'm interested in one important thing: where is this SAT score used?

do the universities pick students based on the SAT score or do they have their own tests also? i have heard the very best universities even have personal interviews, but let's not talk about ivy league here - in the real world, where can one benefit from a good SAT score?

i'm a little confused because here in finland we don't have such tests at all. all universities have a test of their own, and even a different test based on what you have planned to study. we however have a nationwide tests for "high-school" graduates, which universities use to select students that can try their own tests - but that test changes every year, and is therefore not comparable to the SAT which i have understood doesn't change on a yearly basis.

american tv series often show the stress involved in preparing to SAT tests, so the score must mean something. somebody please explain this meaning of SAT score to me :)

[Abstract]

quite impossible, right now Hispanic/ Mexican cultures are the fastest growing minority in america. 15 years is a very short time for a population trend to change that quickly.

Well I heard oriental people, but neither are on the list, so it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I really think the latest SAT should be the score that counts, not a combination of the 2 highest scores.

And how do you take it twice? Do you take it in Year 11 (Junior year(?)) and again in Year 12 (Senior year)?

[Counterfit]

as a non-american i'm interested in one important thing: where is this SAT score used?

do the universities pick students based on the SAT score or do they have their own tests also? i have heard the very best universities even have personal interviews, but let's not talk about ivy league here - in the real world, where can one benefit from a good SAT score?

i'm a little confused because here in finland we don't have such tests at all. all universities have a test of their own, and even a different test based on what you have planned to study. we however have a nationwide tests for "high-school" graduates, which universities use to select students that can try their own tests - but that test changes every year, and is therefore not comparable to the SAT which i have understood doesn't change on a yearly basis.

american tv series often show the stress involved in preparing to SAT tests, so the score must mean something. somebody please explain this meaning of SAT score to me :) It's a standardized test given to anyone who wants to take it. Most non-public colleges require that you take it, and they usually say something like "50% of our incoming freshman have scores in the xxx-xxxx range". The SAT I (1) is composed of English and Math, with a new essay section as part of the English. There's also the SAT II (2) available is specific subjects, like Physics and various languages (some spoken too). Anything else could probably be explained better here (http://www.collegeboard.com/splash).

[yellow]

In the US, there are only 4 types of people: male, female, black, and white. Yup, just about sums it all up. Stupid American buttholes.

I think that's needlessly harsh and judgmental. I took the first Goggled link I got for "SAT average". I wasn't looking for one that was inclusive of all races. It's pretty lame to brand us ALL "Stupid American buttholes" because one website fails to be as diverse as you think it should be.

[wordmunger]

It amazes me how little the English section of the PSATs or the SATs reflect upon college writing abilities. I got a 300 on both my PSATs and SATs in the English section; on the PSATs, I answered all the questions, but on the SATs, I left blank the ones I wasn't sure of. I got the same score. It amazes me that people can answer the questions correctly and know so many definitions presented to them. 80% of the words in the anology section of either test have words I've never seen before. When I got the results of my SATs, I saw that I scored at the bottom 4% of all English SAT takers. I would have done better if I never answered any of the questions in the English section, as that would put me at around 320. I was either a Junior or Senior at H.S. at the time.

I took College Writing my first semester at college, and got a B for the class, which is above average writing at a college level.
Your result doesn't surprise me. You're right that the SAT verbal scores may have little to do with actual writing ability. I taught college writing, and I had students who took AP English in high school and were terrible writers. The verbal component of the (old) SAT tests vocabulary and reading comprehension. Those things are important, but being a good writer also requires understanding your audience, organization, logic, and creativity.

However, the verbal component of the SAT is an important predictor of college success because basically it's a measure of how much reading you've done. The more reading, the better your vocabulary, and the more likely you'll be able to handle the intense reading demands in college.

The new SAT adds a writing component, and I imagine students that do well on that section will also do well in Freshman Comp.

[gear02]

I would check your colleges' applications so see what they take. I recall some places ask you for ALL your scores, some ask for your top verbal and top math, and some just ask for one (you pick).

I don't think there are any schools that have an automatic acceptance based solely on your SAT. I know in Texas, you automatically get into UTexas if you are in the top 10% of your class.

I think there are some schools that have mininum SAT scores. Actually, I'm pretty sure since athletes are always concerned with their SAT scores.

But most schools look at the SAT as a small component of your overall application. If you do poorly on the SAT, you can make it up in your interview or essays.

[King Cobra]

wordmunger, hot damn, you taught College Writing? Yeesh, I'm amazed that professors can read, critique and grade 100s of papers and give them back to students no more than a week later.

When I took the SATs, there was no writing section, just multiple choice all the way through. Go figure. When I get to the story section, my interpretations of the story almost never match up with any of the available choices.

[themadchemist]

Well I heard oriental people, but neither are on the list, so it doesn't matter.


AAARGH! Don't use the term oriental! It is wrapped up with so many preconceptions and misconceptions of a foreign Asiatic 'other,' exoticised and misunderstood. That is, it is problematic because it emphasizes the idea that Asian Americans are alien entities with alien alleigances against whom the American identity can be defined in some part. It's a terrible term with terrible connotations that hearken back to the formalization of orientalism--please try to use Asian American.

[Wyvernspirit]

I got a 610 on the math and a 590 on the english ( I should have retaken it as I was later told, do to my Learning disabilities, I could have taken them without a time limit, oh well).

The SAT are usually required for College, but are not the only source colleges look at (More so each year). One test really can't predict how one student will do in any given setting. My SAT score was the only reason I got into a private college (My class GPA was horible do to my lack of doing homework).

When I took the SATs you didn't "Tell" the school your score, when you signed up to do the SATs you filled out a form saying which schools you wanted to receive your scores. I believe you can also let the scool look them up on their own, but there seems very little reason they would believe what ever you told them your score was.

[agreenster]

as oriental people will make up 50% of the US population in 15 years.

What?

[ejb190]

Yah, a lot of people get really stressed out about the SAT. But to put things in prespective, I got an okay score on both the SAT and the GRE and got into the schools I wanted. And now, 13 years later, I couldn't tell you my scores if I wanted to. And calculators were not allowed when I took 'em.

I remember talking to a buch of fellow grad students about GRE scores. Turned out the higest English score in the group was by a Chineese guy who all of us had a terrible time understanding because of his poor spoken English!

[yellow]

Yeah, I got a decent SAT (something like 1220) and went to a top 5 US college, and I'm a complete doofus.

[Archaeopteryx]

I got something like a 1480 when I took it back in 99... Not too bad considering most people study and ****.. I went out and partied the night before.. never lifted a "SAT" book either :-P

[Don't panic]

Most colleges take the highest combined. The theory behind this is that everyone has a bad day, but you can't do better than your best, and therefore, your best defines your overall potential (especially when you average that potential out over 4 years of collegiate performance, which is what the SAT is supposed to predict). Therefore, the best guess of how you will usually do as compared to others is to compare your best performance to others', both because it should be closer to your potential but also because it defines an absolute maximum at which everyone can be measured evenly.

then the best strategy would be to take it a first time and spend the entire time on the english section, completely ignoring the math part (or putting completely random answers, whatever gives the best baseline).
and then do the opposite the second time.

how would a college react if you show up with a 750-300 + 300-750?

[scem0]

I got something like a 1480 when I took it back in 99... Not too bad considering most people study and ****.. I went out and partied the night before.. never lifted a "SAT" book either :-P

Those SAT books and classes only help some people.

I got a 1280 before taking an SAT class and then a 1270 after taking the class. :confused: Well, the second time was a diagnostic, not an actual SAT test, so I wasn't thinking my hardest :p.

I take the actual test again in November. My goal is 1350+, but I'll be happy with anything above a 1300.

scem0

[yellow]

Don't forget, some people are just good at standardized testing, and are otherwise doofuses.