<p>..................thank you</p>
<p>one's raw score gets compared with the entire nation...the curve is implemented to make sure that different tests with presumably varying difficulty are scaled equivalently...</p>
<p>but why is it important?</p>
<p>we are all stressing over the curve because a difference in raw score of say, one point, might mean the difference in 30 scaled points or 60 scaled points, all depending on how the curve is set up</p>
<p>ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So do you know how they determine a curve?</p>
<p>It's important because your raw score means not very much, since the curve determines your scale (200 - 800) score. No one looks at your raw score, they only look at your scaled score, so the better the curve, the higher the scale score you can get with a certain raw score.</p>
<p>a mysterious process called "equating" that is supposedly pre determined</p>
<p>Oh, and they use this statistical thing called a Bell Curve, so that the average person will get a 500 in all subject areas.</p>
<p>Quoting from the Official SAT Study Guide, p882:
"Raw scores are then placed on the College Board scale of 200 to 800 throught a process that adjusts scores to account for minor differences in difficulty among different versions of the test. This process, known as equating, is performed so that a student's reported score is not affected by the version of the test taken or by the abilities of the group with whom the student takes the test. As a result of placing SAT scores on the College Board scale, scores earned by students at different times can be compared. For example, and SAT critical reading score of 400 on a test taken at one administratin indicates the same level of developed critical reading ability as a 400 score obtained on a different version of the test taken at another time."</p>
<p>In other words, the curve has nothing to do with the distribution of the raw scores everyone achieves, but rather the relative difficulty of that particular test as compared to other tests administered.</p>
<p>It was damned annoying to receive, like, an 1800--2100 in the Official guide 'cause they had no earlier SAT's to compare it with.
Wonder how they are going to do it this time.</p>
<p>see above.</p>
<p>The March test has different questions from the May test. The Saturday tests have different questions from the Sunday tests. The score conversion guide (the "curve" if you will) ensures that the relative difficulty is the same from test date to test date.</p>