<p>I got an 800 on math 2 but the percentile was only 88%. This was very disappointing to see esp since I scored 780 on sat math (in the reasoning test) and was in the 99%) </p>
<p>What does it mean to colleges who look at this low percentile score. I worked really hard to prepare for this mAth 2 test and I was ecstatic when I 1st saw the score of 800. but the v disappointed when I saw that it was only in the 88th percentile
Anyone care to comment on this?</p>
<p>With SAT II tests, score, showing proficiency in the subject, not percentile is what matters.</p>
<p>88th percentile means 12 percent of the students who took math 2 on that day scored 800.
No one cares about the percentile. You can’t get more than an 800! The test takers for the math 2 test are already a self-selected group–> students who are excellent in math.</p>
<p>800 is the highest possible score so there is quite obviously no reason to be upset over it. It just so happens that many people who take the math test also get 800s.</p>
<p>Yes, that SAT II percentile thing is a hoot! I think it’s based on the bottom of the range: E.g., the range for an 800 is 770-800, so the percentile is based on the 770, not the 800. It’s still pretty funny, though. DS got an 800 on his Latin SAT, which supposedly put him in the 96th percentile. We joked about how 4% of the test takers must have scored 810-830. ;)</p>
<p>^Gotta learn how to find those secret questions that you decode from the answers of previous questions.</p>
<p>I heard they award extra credit if your cursive is really good.</p>
<p>@neek, I’m unable to decode your response, unfortunately, but I will graciously overlook its thinly veiled snarkiness. ;)</p>
<p>The percentile number is the percent of test takers scoring lower than the given score. The top score can easily have a percentile of 88 if many of the test takers scored at the top (in this case, 12% of them). No score range is involved.</p>
<p>More highly skewed examples exist: for the Chinese listening test, 44% of test takers in the class of 2010 scored an 800, making the percentile for 800 equal to 56. As weed of milk pointed out, the percentiles for these particular tests aren’t particularly useful.</p>
<p>thanks guys …that makes me feel better! I just got down cos some kid said he was not going to take any SAT subjects tests if the percentile rank is low for an 800 like in Chinese. That made me wonder how valuable my SAT math 2 800 result was. Now i feel reassured that it is good.</p>