<p>Ok, both sides of this debate have good arguments. But look at this situation:</p>
<p>Anyine who knows the GCE A levels know how very tough they are. I did 5 full A levels and 2 half A levels(so 6 A levels in total). My subjects: phy/math/english/economics/chemistry. Half A levels: history/further math. Got A grades in all except B in further maths(that's a killer course!)</p>
<p>I dont want to say this, but i am A DEFINITE shoo-in for oxford/cambridge. My SAT1?--I took it once, and got 2020(cr700,math660,writing660). Something is wrong here, right?</p>
<p>The A levels are standardized in that they are scored by exam boards in England. So what does my A levels and my sat1 say about my abilities?? I think the 2 year A level courses say a LOT more than the 4 hour SAT1--at least in cases similar to mine. </p>
<p>As for colleges, I dont know how they'll look at it. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>If you get less than 500 on math, you must be really stupid lol. Ok i said something like that but I was referring to ppl with 4.0 GPAs I mean come on, if that makes me ignorant well then I guess I am. </p>
<p>Vertigo Frog, "The SATs, as arbitrary as they may seem, are really the only objective means for comparing two students from wildly different backgrounds." exactly they can use them as a way to show whos smart, but not like the higher you get the better, but the same way they use toefl. If you get over 600 that shows you have what it takes. But whats happening now where only 2250 or something is "sufficient" to get into Harvard thats complete bull. Plus, think about the hundreds of applicants getting rejected with a perfect 2400, its just weird.</p>
<p>Juggieburger, I absolutely agree with you. Some people have great GPA's, but just don't test well. The #4 student in my school gets outstanding grades in very challenging classes, but has "only" a 1900 SAT score. There are quite a few kids who scored higher than him but have much worse GPAs. I myself have a better SAT and lower GPA. </p>
<p>However, I still feel that the SAT is a crucial test. It is a great equalizer because everyone from different high schools takes it. No one can say "your SAT was easier than mine."</p>
<p>I just meant that math isn't inherently harder than the reading. I got a dismal 580 on the math, and a 770 on the reading/800 on the writing. I've always considered myself a humanities person--never a math person--and the test reflected my strengths well.</p>
<p>I agree with your point that when you get over a certain level
(say mid 600s), there's no real difference. </p>
<p>One of the reasons I'm glad that colleges go by the SATs is my current school. They don't weight grades, they don't inflate, and its tough as hell. They give an AA degree upon graduation. I was considering going to a different HS, and at that HS, I'm sure I could have pulled off a 4.0 with almost no work. I think the rift in difficullty at different High Schools are greater than most people think.</p>
<p>True, i like the fact that it can show to equalize ppl from diffrent highschools, but its just worst for me cause Ive never studied english in my life, and well I wanna go to princeton, but my SAT scores are far too low for their standards, so it just sucks.</p>
<p>The 1900 kid that I know is applying to Ivies as well, but his scores definitely hurt him. It is still amazing that he scored "only" a 600 on the Math, yet managed to have almost the same average last year in pre-Calc as a kid with an 800 on the Math. He had a higher average than me in Math and I got a 710 on the SAT Math. The bottom line is that some people just don't test well.</p>
<p>Exactly the point im trying to prove! hahah plus, its a HUGE disadvantage for us internationals (well atleast the majority of us lol) The thing im hoping that will work out for me is that my SAT scores are much higher than average for international and most americans, so hopefully colleges would be like "oh, we should accept him because he scored pretty high for a person whos never studied english before" lol</p>
<p>Here's how it is at my school. For the most part, it's uncompetitive, but the top 10-15 spots are very competitive. However, in the top 10-15 spots, only a few students are very intelligent (don't need to study to pull off good grades, etc.) ANYBODY can study 4 hours/night (at my school) and pull off amazing grades. Does it mean you're smart? Not necessarily, just motivated. Now, those same students (the ones who study 4 hours/night) are scoring 1500-1700 on their SATs. Sorry to say, the SAT DOES test intelligence. Is it somewhat flawed? Yes. Can you prepare for it? Yes. But to think that anybody of average intelligence can pull off an amazing score is incredibly ignorant of you. This thread is ridiculous.</p>
<p>I really dont think it tests intellegence. For example, if you memorize those thousands of words in the SAT Prep books does your score go higher signifcantly? yes! it does, how is that intellegence?</p>
<p>I agree w/ JyankeesSS2 and comfy. Its ignorant to say that just any random person score high. I have a friend who score less than 900/2400. I studied with him for some time, but he barely improved.</p>
<p>juggieburger you CAN improve, but it doesn't mean that ANYBODY can get a near-perfect score. Why don't you just stop complaining and get a perfect score yourself if it's so easy. The alternative to the SAT would be an IQ test (if you want to measure real intelligence), and even MORE people would complain about a test that actually DOES measure intelligence. Leave it alone.</p>
<p>dude, jyankess, u didnt answer my question, u said the SAT measures intellegence, well if u can just memorize words to raise your score how can that measure your intellegence?
I never said it was easy, plus english is my third language (I speak Arabic and French) So getting over 2000 in my opinion is amazing.</p>
<p>Not too significantly actually, no. If you're already scoring at a decently high level, 1900ish, there aren't too many of those questions that you're missing anyway.</p>
<p>The SAT doesn't measure intelligence perfectly--I admitted it was flawed. I was pointing out that nobody can improve a 1500 SAT to a 2400 SAT simply by studying; therefore, it DOES measure intelligence, it merely measures in ranges.</p>
<p>juggieburger, you can't improve significantly by memorizing the words.....the passage holds 77% of the total CR score , so I don't think memorizing will get you from a 480 to an 800..And scores increase the second or the third time because the students taking the tests are not as nervous and scared as they were the first time...............</p>
<p>a kid at my school got 500 the first time on CR, his english is MUCH worse than mine, he memorized words and studied he got an 800 the 3rd time, i havent got a clue how though all i know is that he memorized every single word in the books, and btw memorizing words does help you in the passages not only the in the sentence completions. Of course it helps much more in the sentence completions, but nontheless it still it does help you in the passages.</p>