Or they grew up in environments where, believe it or not, standardized test scores were status symbols.
But if this kid had dunked a basketball or ran a killer 40 yard dash, it would be a big deal right? Sad.
Just so that y'all know, only 7 out of every 10,000 test takers get a perfect score on the SAT, and they're usually 16 or 17 when they take it. Belittling this kid's accomplishment is ridiculous.
It shouldn't be called "perfect" score now that you don't need to be "perfect" to score 1600. I really miss the old SAT when 1600 meant something. Besides, by the time he's applying to colleges in a couple years, the SAT will have been re-centered AGAIN, and this time the "perfect" score is 2400! By then, people will think he scored the equivalent of 1100 (if he doesn't retake the test, which is kind of hard to do when you already have the "perfect" score). Yay!!
Yep. I missed one verbal question; my 1600 sure was meaningless. You apparently aren't aware of the process at all. He took this as part of the Duke T.I.P.S. (I think) program most likely. A lot of people take it- I got a 1260 when I took it at age 13. Your 7th grade score isn't available for submission.
Interesting. My last time taking it, I only missed two verbal questions. (1560 then... would have been 1600 more recently. Showing my age.) Girls talk to me, I suppose, not that it's what I'm particularly interested in. I don't even consider academic stuff to be my hobby or main interest. I just do well on logic type questions. I also took it for T.I.P. - got a 1060 then (age 11). OK, so my social skills weren't that great. But it's not as stereotypical as people think it is. I went to the TIP summer program for three years. The first time, I thought everyone there was going to be a nerd and I was going to be the coolest person there. No, most of the other girls had more "advanced" social skills than me, particularly that first year. It was a good experience and forced me to rethink my stereotypes. Also, I found out that taking college level courses is hard, that most of my studying had been due to my mother making me (and I wouldn't do much on my own), and that most of the people there were a lot smarter than me. What some of those 1600-type people do have in common, and which got worse for some as they got older, was the "intellectual snob" syndrome. We're smart, we're gifted, we're better than all those common people, we want to impress the world and each other. To some of them, "success" and a polished intellectual facade are much more important than relationships, values, wisdom... whatever. I guess it's just part of human nature - wanting to be better than others.
Interesting about the influence of the TIP program on you, Isabel. I kind of wish I had the opportunity do something like that. I moved to Texas in the 7th grade and didn't know about TIP. I wonder if my work ethic would have been better if I were forced to rethink my approach to academics before high school.
