I’ve heard before that the international SAT recycles past US tests. Does the international SAT recycle only some part and use original material for others, or does it recycle the whole enchilada? If the later is true, then won’t it be terribly advantageous for the international students?
all of it! my international test last December was the March U.S test. they also recycle old papers for newer years like 2005 was administered in 2008 too some months only.
It shouldn’t be–the CB only recycles tests that have never been released as QAS–but in reality, there have been cheating scandals over the years.
What I hated most is they based the CR sections with the curves from US Tests. It was unfair, like I took the October test last year and got like 6 wrongs and went berserkly down to a 680 :((((
…Now I understand why the bar is set so high for international students.
@marvin100 All the past papers are on the pirate bay, last I checked. All of it. And it wouldn’t even be cheating, or illegal, for that matter, in places where laws against piracy are practically non-existent.
There’s something that’s been bugging me: Why do they even reuse the old tests anyway when they can just administer the US test globally and be done with it like they do the SAT Subject tests?
@Quanh261997 I’m sorry. Really, I am, but how is that unfair? There’s no reason for them not to use the old curves.
Really? Even unreleased ones? I haven’t heard about that…
Actually, laws against piracy definitely exist in Asia (although China is a bit of a “wild west” still). Part of the problem is that the CB doesn’t actually bother to fly someone out to prosecute.
Good question, and one that’s been bothering me for years. I guess it’s moot now, as there’s zero chance the CB will invest in making new versions of its soon-to-be-obsolete pre-2016 exam…
@marvin100 I’ve just rechecked the file. It turns out that all Jan, May, October and a few March and June tests from 2005 onwards are in there. All of 2014 are available. All essay prompts from 2005 onwards can be found on various sources as well. Eh, because my writing has always been atrocious compared to my other skills, I’ve only looked at the prompts.
Of course, the tests mentioned above came only from free online sources. It’s, kind of like, common knowledge here that the pros (mostly in China, Korea and one or two centers in country as well) have everything except for maybe the actual test of that month itself.
Definitely China. Vietnam, too. cough my country cough.
Wild west doesn’t even cut it, to say the least. More like the Amazon jungle, the Sahara desert.
Anyway, even though the CB’s decision benefits me in general, I still feel kind of bad that it won’t be a fair fight…
Any chance that they’ll change the testing system, what’s with the new SAT coming and all?
@Synonyms - those are all released exams and thus aren’t recycled.