It's related to "proctology." Go to dictionary.com and check it out... 1240 (680 Math and 560 Verbal) without cracking a book throughout most of high school.
proctoring the test = administering the test I'll be the one walking up and down the rows making sure you don't cheat. It's a very boring job, but at $84, it's totally worth it . . .
The SAT has no bearing on how you'll do in life : get that in your head first. For example, lots of high scoring people are unemployed at the moment, while others who didn't score so high are gainfully employed. Comparing scores is almost pointless. From what I recall the tests in the 80's were more difficult than later editions. I remember Mensa had an SAT requirement that was lower for tests taken before a certain year - can't remember the year. Lastly, don't be nervous. This isn't your life - just a step in it : http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/departments/college/?article=SAT_TestDayTips>1=5472
SATs are actually pretty important, since the University you get into will depend on your score. As well as other things. My parents got me the Princeton Review and 10 Real SATs. Practice is really the best way to improve. SATs are so repetitive, once you get the format, you'll be fine. For the verbal, just memorize alot of vocab, like in the Princeton Review. On my PSATs i got a 1350. Then after doing all of the above, I managed a 1520 on my SATs, on the second try. I was set for life. Ka Ching! In the money. I cruised through my junior year anticipating the riches that awaited me. I applied for mostly Ivy League colleges like UPenn, Princeton etc. with a few local backups. Turns out these people actually read the essays you send in, in which I wrote a satirical short story on a boy named Angus who had a disorder where he would soil himself in school constantly. It was symbolic. Anyways, they didn't like it, apparently. Also, since i slacked so much my junior and senior year, my GPA dropped to a 3.2 from a 3.8 by graduation. So now I'm at one of my local backups, 2:16 am, typing on a Rockets message board.... reflecting on what could have been....writing into the night.... *single tear trinkle from eye* Ah forget it, don't worry about me! What were we talking about again? Ah yes, SATs being important for Universities........ F*** 'em...
George: I'm sure I have a low IQ. I've been lying about my SAT scores for 15 years. Jerry: What did you get? George: What did I get or what do I say I got? Jerry: What do you say? George: I say fourteen o nine (1409). Jerry: 1409, that's a good score. George: You're telling me. Jerry: What did you really get? George: You are my friend. Jerry: Of course. George: I tell you everything, right? Jerry: I hope so. George: Well, this I take to the grave.
LOL, did you really think they didn't read them? Well, now that you know the essays are important, why don't you try transferring?
1480 and hung over. Felt really relaxed cuz i was worrying about my headache. Don't be nervous and just feel confident and don't frett over anything ur not positive of.
I got a 219 on the PSAT, good enough for a berth in the National Merit Scholarship Semifinals. I find out in February if I made it into Finals or not. I was never quite sure what score a 219 on the PSAT translated into on the SAT. I took my very first SAT this morning. I wouldn't be surprised if I missed less than two on the verbal. The English language is my thing. The math killed me though. I was coming down off a sugar high, lost track of time, and couldn't focus. Luckily, I'll be taking it again in November.
Also, I should add that I didn't study, which was a very stupid mistake. I assumed that since I did well on the PSAT last year that I'd do just as well this year. I was wrong. So much of the stuff that I crammed for before the PSAT has left me since then, and I'll definitely be studying a bit in the hopes of making a 1500+ in November. I think I'm fully capable.
Too true. One of my best friends has had a great career as a computer engineer, and couldn't score decently on the SAT to save his life. I took it after staying up late, didn't study a lick, and did extremely well. I also think you're right, DoD, about the SAT being scored differently today. I took mine in the late '60's (you can imagine what state I was in when I took the test!), and surely it's changed tremendously in content and scoring, probably several times since then. And the advice about being nervous is good, if some of you facing it can relax. I was so out of it when I took mine that I had no thought of the implications, yet I zipped through it. I would recommend studying for it, however. It could only help, if you can get past the "mental" aspect. (lol!) Keep D&D Civil!!
I got a 1560 (760 verbal, 800 math) the second time I took it. (second official time, not counting practices and junior high stuff and PSAT's) Pre-1994 scoring system. I think I only missed two questions. I had done some prepping over the years, including a short course taught at my school. Didn't particularly care or do anything the night before. These things have always been fairly easy for me for some reason. Doesn't translate to the rest of your life, however. I had substantially more trouble making good grades, especially in college. The SAT score got me into a good school, but I didn't do so great when I got there. So that number doesn't say anything about whether you're really going to succeed. It's something cool to bring up when people discuss it on the bbs, though.
Didn't that say that, if you took your SAT a long time ago, you could find out what an equivalent would be today (I think they changed the grade methods, or something like that). Does anyone have any info on this? -- droxford
I don't have any info on converting scores, but it would be interesting to see what I would've made.... I took the PSAT and the SAT once. 1120 on the PSAT (1999), 1220 on the SAT (2000). No studying, no prep classes. Just common sense and deductive reasoning on a couple of early morning tests on the weekend.
What did y'all do? Chisel your answers into stone tablets? Did they even call them SAT's back then? Had the letter "S" even been invented yet?! * ducks and runs * (kidding ya Deckard!)
I'm not sure about the conversion either (I'm sure there are scales out there somewhere), but Mensa allows you to apply/join based upon a number of scores. For the SAT, prior to 9/30/74, they require a score of 1300 or above. For tests taken from 9/30/74 - 1/31/94, they require a score of 1250 or above. For tests after 1/31/94, they don't accept the SAT as a measure of IQ. So it seems they think it went from easier, to more difficult, to "what the hell is this?" Admittedly, scores of 1250 seem a bit low for such an elite organization - when I first looked into it about a decade ago, I was shocked it wasn't higher.
Used to be 1600. Don't know if it's changed. The format of the test definitely has changed at least a couple of times over the past 15 or so years.
