<p>Ok, the conversion charts i've been looking at don't quite make sense. For example, a 98% on the ACT is 31. Most people say a 31 ACT is equivalent to a 1380. But a 1380 isn't 98% for SAT. Same with 32 (99%)-->1420, not equivalent to 99% on SAT</p>
<p>Does anyone get it?</p>
<p>I get what you're saying, but I don't know why it's like that. It might be because the curve for the ACT is harder so the scoring for the SAT is more linear.. Meaning whereas each hundred point rise on the SAT might mean a 10 percentile rise, the corresponding ACT rise might only mean a 5 percentile. Sorry, that was confusing. I mean less people score on the higher end of the ACT spectrum than the SATs.</p>
<p>i wouldn't foucus too heavily on standardized scores--it's much more about what you add to the community. each school has its own act/sat conversion that it uses and using anecdotal history it appears even a 25/26 could be sufficient for a school accepting about 30% of it applicants (top 20)</p>
<p>YOU REALLY CAN'T COMPARE THE TWO</p>
<p>m.toad: Why did you pick this thread to post that? There are at least half a dozen where it would be more relevant.</p>
<p>On the topic: It has to do with the populations that take the two tests. You should only expect them to be the same if you only consider the people who have taken them both at about the same time.</p>
<p>mrs f--
thank you for your kind comments.</p>
<p>the relevant point is that the kids are getting hung up on the scores which, to a great degree, have a limited impact on admissions after a certain score is reached.<br>
\
please refrain from barking about relevance</p>
<p>I think his post was completely relevant.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the relevant point is that the kids are getting hung up on the scores . . .
[/quote]
Woof! Relevant to what? I totally agree with your point, but the thread was about how a concordance table was created; nobody suggested they give a fig about what score anyone gets.</p>
<p>I guess some people don't care about how things work unless they directly affect their own lives.</p>
<p>lol yeah me too. Thanks for the hope musictoad! lol considering I'm not a very good standardized test taker. :)</p>
<p>i've been investigating this concordance a little more and discovered that some schools only take the ACT math and english sections to compare to the verbal and math of the SAT. i've found several tables converting the same sections and if i can locate them again i'll provide the citation. however, i did locate it thru google just typing sat act conversion tables.
if you have some favorite schools, you may want to email the admissions rep and ask how their procedure works.
other schools just take the composite act but it may be a smaller number than we all think.</p>
<p>one that was put together was by the university of texas austin--eg. a 25 in english is a 600SAT and a 31 act math is a 700SAT.</p>
<p>musictoad if you find more lists of the conversions by subsection, that would be great. Thanks for posting. :)</p>
<p>excel, i'm also finding it interesting looking at the common data sets provided by many of the colleges. I've found several that break out the ACT by the english and math subscore with appropriate percentages in addition to the composite scores. Many schools don't and I don't know if it's because they don't have to do it in completing the form or they just look at the composite number. or they just don't want to take the time and fill it out.</p>
<p>OfTroy,
What do you mean "let him"? Perhaps you have mistaken me for someone with the authority to police this board--I did not intend to imply that I was pursuing some measures to have musictoad's post removed. When I asked musictoad "Why did you pick this thread to post that?", I had simply hoped that he/she would provide additional "insight" to explain how the post related the thread topic--clearly it was intended to apply, and though I felt sure it had value, my age-addled lady's brain wasn't able to make the connection.</p>
<p>You say "I ask myself why does this lady think she can tell people off"--I see: you're the board police, and only you are allowed to "tell people off" (whatever that means--some newfangled slang you kids use, must be).</p>
<p>Mrs. Ferguson.</p>
<p>Are you really an old lady?</p>
<p>or perhaps a young man or woman?</p>
<p>Forget it, excel: I'm married.</p>
<p>Just Wondering :)</p>
<p>If you look at the SAT raw score to scaled score conversion chart, you will see that its curve is different from the ACT's. At the high end of ACT scores, answering a single question right can make the scaled score jump one or even two points (particularly for the reading and science sections as they have just 40 questions). This is less true for the SAT, so a larger portion of SAT test takers get high scores hence the corresponding percentiles are different. Colleges know how to account for this so I wouldn't worry about it.</p>
<p>Another possible factor is that the average ACT test taker may be "dumber" than the average SAT test taker. The entire HS graduating population of Illinois and Colorado are required to take the ACT while only college bound students take the SAT. This may skew results.</p>
<p>do we have to rehash the no proof statement that act takers are dumber than sat takers? please. i'm not going to do an ad hominem attack unlike some but that is a comment that should be backed up with facts, not anecdotes, not myths.</p>
<p>I just gave the proof, didn't I? In Illinois and Colorado, the ACT is REQUIRED to be taken by ALL students in their junior year. The SAT is not a requirement in any state and therefore mostly taken only by those intending to attend colleges. Wouldn't you agree that the average intelligence of all students is lower than that of just those planning on going to college? As I said, this would skew results. All those Illinois and Colorado students who have no plans to continue their education would probably drag down the average with their low scores. Now, please enlighten me by telling me what part of what I said is an anecdote or a myth.</p>
<p>I would bet that the ACT/SAT concordance tables were created before IL and CO began testing all students, and haven't changed since. Reports of average scores and the percentile ranks do not include state-tested students. So I doubt that has anything to do with it, but it's worth looking at.</p>