@MatzoBall I get that there is some concern that IvySource may not be who he says he is. His responses in a previous thread already made me suspicious, and the fact that he just joined a couple of days ago when he’s been supposedly running a tutoring business for years seems unlikely.
Still, I don’t see how this thread posts a danger. I’d like to see scores. I think it helps. So in that spirit, I have twins who both scored 1550’s. They scored 1490s on the PSAT. Their reading scores were lower than they expected. Here’s the breakdown:
Twin 1: Reading -5, Writing -1 = 760 | Math -2 = 790 Essay 7/7/8 (Sophomore year ACT=35)
Twin 2: Reading -6, Writing -1 = 750 | Math -1 = 800 Essay 7/6/7 (Sophomore year ACT=34)
@suzyQ7 My kids took it to qualify for NMF. They are considering at least two schools where that matters.
@BunnyBlue I thought something like that had happened. I took the ACT in '87 and got a 29, but it seemed like that equated by percentile to a 30-31 now. That makes more sense. (Yes I should have scored higher, but MY parents didn’t really care.)
@ivysource thanks for the link. He won’t be applying to competitive schools he’ll be an auto admit in TX. Our main goal is the PSAT and increasing the SAT for additional merit. He’s still a sophomore so there’s time.
@candjsdad This is called College Confidential, so I don’t feel the need to disclose my name. And I understand that you should be suspicious of your sources on an anonymous forum. But I am who I say I am, and I can prove it. I joined a couple of weeks ago because I haven’t had the time until now. If you want proof, then message me.
@3scoutsmom He’s a sophomore? Well that changes everything. Colleges don’t care much about sophomore scores since junior/senior year scores tend to be about 50-100 points better.
My daughter got 1340. 700 math and 640 reading. Her math was the same from PSAT and went up 80 points on Reading, which she did spend time studying for. Does anyone know if colleges look at separate scores or just total? She’s aiming for a lot of reach schools (!!) and is wanting to major in Bio/premed. Any suggestions on East Coast safety/targets?!
This is all brand-new information, but the conclusion that I have drawn so far, based on the PSAT percentiles as well as the recently released March SAT scores / percentiles / concordance tables (https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/educators/higher-ed/scoring-changes/concordance) is that both percentiles and scores have been somewhat inflated. Apparently my 1480 back in 1997 is a 1520 by today’s standards.
As @Ynotgo has astutely noted, it is important to keep this in mind. An Ivy-League caliber score may have indeed shifted from 1450+ to 1500+.
@immomtoone Colleges definitely look at the separate scores. The fact that your daughter got a 700 in math is really going to help her. Schools love female applicants who are talented at math and science.
@mamma1st There are a lot of parents on this forum who are disagreeing with my advice that your son should call it quits at 1490.
The truth is that for most schools, it makes sense to take the SAT at least 2-3 times, in order to give yourself the best shot at a great score and/or superscore. And he’s definitely going to want to work on improving his essay score.
The only caveat here is that if you have your heart set on a school such as Stanford, who considers all scores, then you run the risk of taking the SAT a 2nd or 3rd time and having the scores go down. However, if you are willing to adopt a more global strategy when it comes to applying to schools, then you should be fine, since most schools either take your “best sitting” score or your superscore.
@ivysource That’s good to hear. Indeed she loves math and science! She is taking the Bio (and Math) subject tests in June (She’s a junior). I hope that schools will see that math is her strength! She’s a good reader/writer but does better with time to think and edit and rewrite which obviously isn’t happening during the SAT!
“Colleges don’t care much about sophomore scores since junior/senior year scores tend to be about 50-100 points better.”
Ivysource, I doubt that statement is accurate, especially across all colleges.
Some might not put much emphasis on Sophmores scores as much as Junior/Senior scores. But I’m pretty many colleges will just care about the highest scores no matter when they were achieved.
Furthermore, some students complete their SAT/ACT requirements in Sophmore year without ever taking those tests later on.
@candjsdad Back in my day I never even heard of anyone preparing for the SAT, which is the one I took. You just went in on test day and took the test. I knew of only one kid in our region who got a perfect 1600. When I started hearing in recent years about lots of kids getting 800 scores (such as the school with an “800 Club” poster), I was amazed until I stumbled upon the SAT recentering info.
Now things have changed. We felt we would have been neglecting our duty as parents if we didn’t make our kids do some practice before each test.
@ivysource - I am heartened to see your advice about 1500+ being Ivy caliber. Those are great schools that meet need, and I come from a family with plenty of need.
I scored 1500 - 760 on math and 740 verbal, and am thinking I don’t have a great shot at the Ivies because, well nobody really does. I know this is 95th percentile and I don’t know if I really want to pursue math, but I am willing to try or maybe just pretend if it will help me get into a school with great aid.
We did not take the writing portion in my school, but I have always loved writing and done well at it. So I think I have to retake the SAT to include the optional writing portion, and then perhaps a couple of subject tests.
Can someone tell me how to find the writing score? I see the low number but how does that convert? I was looking at the concordance table that was posted and I can’t figure out how to find the total score??
DS18’s target school is UT Dallas. From everything I can find, they do supper score and take all SAT’s taken 9th-12th grade into consideration. They recommend the essay but don’t require it, since he scored so well on the essay in March I’m thinking about having him not take the essay when he retakes it OCT.
I’m pretty sure you need to get them ALL right to get an 800 on math. My daughter took the old SAT twice and each time she got one wrong…and received a 770 and then a 780 (different curve or different type of question she missed?). So not sure the recentering makes it any easier or harder to get an 800 on math. My neighbor got an 800 on CR and got one wrong.
As for the comments about the 35 ACT…I agree with the poster that said if you have a solid SAT (1500’s) it might be worth sending it to validate the ACT. It just seems like soooo many kids get 35’s on the ACT, and it could be a 34.5 or a 34.75, so it’s not always a clean 35. Just seems like the ACT has been an easier test to master for many recent test takers. For what it is worth, and this may very well not be true, I have heard that there are some schools out there that truly prefer SAT…I have heard this about Ivies and Georgetown, in particular. With the new changes this year, who knows how they will feel about it. I had may daughter take the OLD Sat in part for this reason and she did not bother with ACT. She might have taken it if she didn’t do well on the old SAT.
Are you all talking about the new SAT? My daughter missed one on the Oct. old SAT and one on the Dec. old SAT. October in particular I was told had a really hard curve. In general, the fall tests have harder curves because more seniors take them and generally speaking seniors do a little better. Maybe the 800’s on Math NOW with the new test can be had with one wrong?