Plus 4 questions unscoreable on many forms!
The scaling on the math (Princeton Review blog has a chart of recent curves for comparison):
-1 = 770
-2 = 750
-3 = 720
-4 = 700
-5 = 690
Inside Higher Ed news picked up the story from the Princeton Review blog article.
How is the test a fair test if it’s more helpful for colleges to know that you took the SAT in June rather than your actual score? The fact of the matter is, I did not deserve to have my score lowered by doing better on this test. That’s not how the test is supposed to work. I did my prep and thus my score should have increased, if the test was graded fairly and had a reasonable curve.
Also, the easier a test becomes, the harder it is on students, which is why easy tests with harsh curves are not nearly as good at determining a student’s skill as a hard test with an easy curve. The simple fact that you can do equally as bad on two tests but get vastly different scores shows how the tests are not equivalent, and thus cannot be given the moniker of “standardized”. I repeat my first statement: How is the test a fair test if it’s more helpful for colleges to know that you took the SAT in June rather than your actual score?
These tests are not standardized across different months, and so are not a good way of determining skill. For all of those hoping:
- Contact the CB about a possible rescore/transparency in the grading and curving system
- Contact local media, national media or some form of news outlet to get the information out. If CB isn’t rescoring, colleges should at least know that this test is an unfair representation of our work.
- Write as such on your college applications. Something like “I took the June 2018 SAT and got 2 more questions right on Math and 4 more questions right on Reading. Unfortunately, this curve was extremely harsh and dropped my score to lower than it was.” Something like that.
- If you can, take the test once more. Identify your strongest section (either English or Math) and focus exclusively on that section in the upcoming test. That way, at least you can superscore your way to a better score and you might be able to mitigate the losses of this one curve (and a harsh curve on the next test if that is still a thing). Your options are in August, October and November.
Good luck to everyone.
To each his own, but I would absolutely suggest you NOT “Write as such on your college applications. Something like “I took the June 2018 SAT and got 2 more questions right on Math and 4 more questions right on Reading. Unfortunately, this curve was extremely harsh and dropped my score to lower than it was.” Something like that.”
Do you really want to come across as that person?
I’m guessing you mean the “anything to add” section of the Common App, since it would be an outrageous waste of space on a 650 word essay. But that space is typically devoted to things of bigger scope than “this test was scored harder than I thought it would be.” They know when you took the test, and they know the results. I would let sleeping dogs lie.
Seents mine was odd compared to the majority. Got 2 wrong non-calc and 1 calc (so 3), yet somehow got a 730 (rather than 720).
Hi guys, I’m also a taker of the june sat. I have never seen a curve like this, not in past sats I’ve taken, or in the official practice tests I’ve taken. I’m very stressed because this is literally the last time I can take the exam. I cannot accept that I improved a lot, prepared a lot, paid for plane, hotel, and test, yet I got much higher number of questions correct and didn’t reach a higher score.
Does anyone know what I can do with this? Does it help to call the CB? I don’t want to just sit there and cry over myself.
Hi all- By now we all probably figured out the June SAT scale was extremely harsh 
I received a 770 on the math portion because i somehow managed to omit the last question #38 in the math calc. I am almost positive I did not omit it and I wrote my answer in the fill in box at the very least. Is it worth it to do score verification/hand scoring (as in this case it could possibly get me 30 points back)- Also does anyone have any bad experiences with score verification (lower score etc) and how long does it usually take to receive ur score. Thank you in advance!
There shouldnt be a curve in the first place. colleges use SAT scores because unlike grades it objective way to look at students and compare them. However what they did was not objective but under the lines of subjective. I know it was easy but know asked for a easy test in the first place. And this is the june sat which many rising seniors who applying to college are taking. Its unfair that they have to take another time just to get in the college of their dreams
Everything is relative. My daughter not a high stats test kid worked between March and June to improve her Math score. She went from 18 wrong in March to 10 wrong in June
Improved only 10 points. To her,that harsh of a curve, had a major effect on her results, merit and college acceptances.
As an above poster stated…deja vu! This has been a long standing “problem” with the SAT. My daughter’s school has recommended ACT only for years because it’s more consistent.
I will also “warn” posters that many college courses are grade on a bell curve…which often can be “harsh”.
When a test is too hard, everyone pleads for an easier test.
When it’s too easy, everyone pleads for a harder test.
I have waffled back and forth as to whether its better to take a known difficult test where the curve is more generous or a reportedly easy sitting. I tend to think that students who do well on tests like the SAT or ACT tend to fare better on more difficult tests and can better differentiate themselves.
It is testing authority’s responsibility to produce tests within a reasonable boundary of difficulty and apply curving ( or equalization, or what ever that is called) for minor adjustment.
This June test fell too far out the reasonable boundary. I feel bad for all the kids who are unfairly penalized by CB’s incompetency. I feel really bad for those truly talented math students who would have easily scored high on normal or more difficult tests but been robbed that opportunity.
If the difficulty of a test is predetermined, should CB publish a difficulty indicator for each future test and have the test takers decide if they want to brave a harder or easier one? Just curious…
Maybe this is the last straw that will finally push student to ACT and ditch SAT?
My DS has to choose this test to omit 2 easy questions ( remains a mystery how/if he actually omit any), but he has a perfect ACT in hand ( same June test) already, so we have brushed this off to the dust bin.
No question that stronger test takers are better off with a harder test. There is more differentiation at the top end which will separate the exceptionally strong from the strong. Conversely, weaker test takers benefit from a more compressed distribution band.
folks, it was an easier test. Of course, the curve was more harsh.
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There was a previous time when SAT was re-scored. Hopefully this will be the second. If the test had 4 questions from verbal section that had to be removed, and if test was supposedly that easy to throw off a curve so dramatically, the test never should have been given. The kids should not have to pay more money and time due to The College Board’s mistakes.
My daughter walked in cold to ACT a week later, no prep, and scored the equivalent to an SAT score of 100 points higher. My next kid will only focus on ACT after this.
@Mwfan1921 the curve is decided before the students take it. If the test writers believed it was a very easy test, the curve would seem harsher. But how people did the day of has no influence on the curve - you get your scores back in about two weeks, there’s simply not enough time.
Another thought… the June test date is a common one for SAT subjects, which usually only the higher scoring SAT students take (think in terms of colleges that require SAT IIs). The June test date is also a popular one for juniors, juniors who aren’t taking SAT IIs. With the harsh curve it means an easy test… I can’t say for sure, just some thoughts
^^An easy test absolutely makes it difficult, even impossible, for students near the top to differentiate themselves via scores (and schools to sort thru it). The Princeton Review article addressed this.
I believe that CollegeBoard management was misguided in administering this test knowing how easy it was beforehand, as many posters on another thread pointed out. It is certainly another knock against CollegeBoard as an organization, and I question their motivation in making this decision.
Some consequences of this decision beyond the obvious are that students who studied hard and answered more questions correctly on this test don’t really know if the improvement was due to their preparation, or simply due to the test being relatively easy. Many students who have taken only this test now need to take another one. Students applying to schools which require all scores to be submitted may be disadvantaged with these June scores.
I feel for the students and families who have been negatively impacted. The reality is that CollegeBoard’s management has too often made decisions that suggest students are less important than revenue. CollegeBoard will never be able to thread that needle, and I hope that schools, students, families and states continue to de-prioritize CollegeBoard’s test offerings.
Everyone acknowledges that it was easier. The question is, was it so easy by comparison to prior tests that the curved results are not comparable? Does the dramatic difference in curve - as an indication of difficulty level - impact the quality of the standardization? At what point do tests of different difficulty become not comparable, within the context that colleges use test scores to distinguish between students?
In my opinion, the difference of the June test is just another reflection of College Board’s lack of reliability in recent years since writing the test itself rather than subcontracting the writing to ETS.
Perhaps the test was simply on the easier side and then the subsequent removal of 4 questions after the test administration was the straw that broke the camel’s back on this curve.
Digging into online anecdotes, the harsh curve was the main version for June, but June also notably had 15-20 other versions, some of which seem to have a normal curve and many of which seem to have had a similar, though not quite as harsh, curve, though I haven’t tried to keep track of the other version curves.