@thedarth what are you aiming for if you retake?
I am going out on a limb to share my opinions on the apparently “lower scores” and I am sure to offend some on here…
— I believe that many of those perfect 2400’s were scored by seniors who had taken the test multiple times or who are a year older/more mature and have had more instruction. It is highly unlikely that there were many seniors taking this testing round.
–I also have to think that there were many, many students who were “practiced and prepped up” to 2400 who would have naturally scored in an outstanding range but not perfect 2400/1600. Absent the exact test prep and bank of thousands of released (and often unreleased) items that some tutors and students have become used to using there may be less “perfect” scorers until the prep companies and students can get their hands on enough practice to ensure their perfection.
–Finally, I believe that there is some level of cheating to the perfect scores – via CC and/or other sites that have “released” official versions of unreleased tests that are reused – along with the insane amount of prep, practice, and grooming of perfect scores from hardworking students – some of those perfect scorers had an advantage of having already read some of the passages or already completed the same math problems – sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally.
Don’t worry - with 2 or 3 or 4 more tries most of the CC kids can get their scores up to previous levels. In the meantime, I think there will be some outcry that the College Board messed up and/or that the scores are unusually harsh. It is interesting because after the test the general feeling was that the test was much EASIER than predicted.
SO the BIG question and i’ll be interested if anyone else has called or has any insight but here it goes-
Will the conversion of the concordance tables be reevaluated and changed accordingly or will CB stick there head in the sand like their history suggests…
Agree. I don’t think the scores are harsh, its the concordance… Perfect section scores don’t concord to perfect scores on old SAT or ACT.
Has anyone found a percentile chart for this new test?
@suzyQ7 I put my scores in the SAT concordance tool on college board’s website, and it said 2280. I got 3 7’s on the essay, and a 35 on the ACT. I know most people say that you don’t have to take the SAT if you do well on the ACT, but I really want a great score on the SAT to supplement my college app. Sorry if I sound like one of those students that cries over an A-, haha.
Guys, stop worrying about concordance so much! Be happy with the fact you got a good score on the first administration! Keep in mind the percentiles will shift with more administrations, as will the concordance because the CB will have more data.
@fairagoura how do you people do it?
Also, @fairagoura great job on both the SAT and ACT! You are fine to apply to any top school with those scores!
Note to all: IMO, all test scores do is qualify you as an applicant for colleges and scholarships; strong test scores don’t get you in automatically. If you got close to your target school’s 75th percentile score, then move on and focus on other parts of your app which are equally important. All of it counts. 
I am getting frustrated. My daughter’s SAT score is still on hold. I called and they have no idea when it will be available. She had the Proctor from hell in March and now this. I am starting to lose faith in the SAT and CollegeBoard. We may just stick with ACT. Tomorrow is the last day to register for June SAT without a late fee but I have no idea if she should take it again. Okay, venting over
@fairagoura A 35 ACT beats EVERYTHING. This test will NOT make your app better, if you are sitting on a 35 ACT. The ACT is clearly better based on this concordance. Dont waste your time on this, work on your app elsewhere.
@silverhawk5 Interesting… You think concordance will change after the April and June SATs comes out?
Do you have anything in the press on that?
@suzyQ7 Honestly, that’s just my opinion—but I think there is some logic to it. Also, it is annoying that a 1600 on the new sat is not a 2400 on the old; I’m not too focused on the concordance because it doesn’t match up. Oh well. I just aimed for a 1560 and got it because prepscholar’s calculations suggested that was the 75th percentile score for most of the top school. I’m happy.
@suzyQ7 also curves tend to normalize after more expansive data comes out…just the way it is for the most part in my experience.
My son and several of his friends are in the same boat in that their scores haven’t been made available yet. I know CollegeBoard said on their Twitter that scores will be released throughout the day. I am hoping they are just doing it in waves so as not to have a huge rush on the web site and bring it down (at least that is my theory/hope and I’m sticking to it).
What bothers me most is that an 800 english/reading subscore concords to a 34 ACT combined English/Reading subscore. That is ridiculous.
@Cocohorse Use Dr. Chungs SAT math book. He has a new edition
First of all, a 2000/2400 on the old sat is roughly 83%, and the equivalent of that to the new SAT is 1410 (according to the concordance tables). However, a 1410/1600 is 88%. If u were to get an 88% total on the old SAT, that would be ~2120. These concordance tables just don’t make any sense. IMO, if u scored 1400+ that’s a good score.
Hi everyone…I’m the parent of an old SAT taker who stopped back in December because she wanted to move on to AP and subject test prep. On the OLD SAT she has a 1540/1600 (780 Math (one wrong), 760 Reading (2 or 3 wrong?), and a 2270/2400 (730 Writing). She was happy enough and studied her butt off beginning almost a year earlier. She knew she wanted to take the old SAT which is why she started so early.
We have been waiting for this official conversion chart for some time, and we are obviously happy with the way it converts because she didn’t take the new one.
I just want to offer my opinion on the comments about the chart being wrong or unfair, or whatever…I think it is unrealistic to think that this first round would have been anyone’s best test. It took my daughter 2 shots to get the score she got (and that was with a TON of prep), and I imagine most of you will go up (and maybe even significantly) now that you know what to expect. And it does sound like even though some of your numbers don’t convert the way you want them to, your percentiles are still very competitive which might be an indicator that this was NO ONE’s best test.
The comment that someone made about the conversions not making sense because this test was easier is the EXACT reason the conversions seem brutal. If the test was indeed easier, then of course the concordance should not be apples to apples.
Also, the fact that test takers are no longer penalized for wrong answers has to come in to play, and that might also impact the “brutal” concordance.
Another potential factor that I don’t think anyone mentioned is the fact that the NEW SAT weighs math 50% of the composite…I’m not sure how that comes into play at all, but I thought it was worth mentioning because it is another inconsistency between the two tests.
At the end of the day, the mere fact that you are all so accountable and trying so hard will pay off…with the exception of those of you already close to having perfect scores, I bet you all will go up on your second and third tries. I completely agree with the poster that reminded us that the students that got the 2400’s on the OLD SAT had so many more resources available to help them prep…so chances are as there are more materials available, you can prepare more and do better. I would consider taking the test in the fall as the SAT is truly meant to be a senior year test and just by being a bit older and more “educated” you will likely get a better score!
(For the record, I feel like you current juniors kind of got screwed…my daughter included because of all of the ambiguity with these new tests and how they compare, etc…might mean this is the year admissions offices weigh standardized testing the least?)
I sincerely doubt the concordance chart will change…sounds like a tremendous amount of analysis went into it being it’s not an apples to apples comparison…but I bet more people will start to figure out the test and get the higher scores they want and deserve!
Good luck to you all! I hope you all get into the school of your dreams!
@1601er Thank you for the suggestion. I don’t have much money to spare, but do you think the official SAT review book would be worth getting, too, for the math?