<p>I know all SAT's are pretty much the same, but is there any advantage to taking the november one over the october one, maybe b/c more motivated kids are taking it in october trying to raise their scores one last time...so the curve will be harder? or is there no difference? </p>
<p>those of you who are going to take the SAT one more time, when do you think is better?</p>
<p>I think more kids will be taking it in October in order to meet the November 1st ED application deadline many colleges have. </p>
<p>At least that's the reason I'm taking it in October. </p>
<p>I'm not sure what this will mean for the curve.</p>
<p>I'm taking the October SAT because i think it's the only chance i have left to take it. I know i'll have a busy fall, applying to colleges and trying to bring up my grades so it looks good to colleges. I'm not applying EA or ED though, i know i can achieve higher grades than i'm earning now. I don't know if they'll be a higher curve for october, but i have heard that the SAT is difficult then.</p>
<p>Doesn't matter, other than to take it early so that you can get it out of the way. As long as you're ready for it, that is.</p>
<p>Ryan123, along with anyone else,</p>
<p>Where did you guys hear that the SAT was harder in October?</p>
<p>That's scary.</p>
<p>I don't really know the exact reason why the SAT is supposed to be harder but maybe its because the college board knows that a lot of people are going to take it(juniors who want to take it for the first time then assess and seniors who are taking it for either the last time or next to last time), and that students just got back to school a little while ago and they decide to make it that much tougher. From taking the June SAT, i can say that the SAT is a difficult test but i have to take it and maybe if i prepare a lot more it won't be as hard.</p>
<p>Logically, I think the October test is harder.</p>
<p>MonoTombo, do you think it's harder because it's the first SAT of the year?</p>
<p>
[quote]
and that students just got back to school a little while ago and they decide to make it that much tougher.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wouldn't this logically make the test easier if they have mercy?</p>
<p>possibly, but i've heard that the October SAT is hard but i can't find anything proving it to be true.</p>
<p>It's just some rumor then.</p>
<p>yes, if you put it that way</p>
<p>Hey guys!
saw this on another thread!</p>
<p>"Yes it is technically right that all test dates are equivalent but keep in mind
the percentile is not something the adcoms focus on but on the scaled
score.</p>
<p>Based on what i have seen in the last 3 years- october dates for SAT I
lead to consistently higher scores than other dates from an individual
perspective. March is a particualrly bad time to take it.</p>
<p>December for SAT IIs such as IIC, bio, phy and chem seem to work better
than june. May seems best for USH. "</p>
<p>I can't find any data on the college board site that confirms any of this except [url=<a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2005/09_effects_of_repeating_sat_0506.pdf%5Dthis%5B/url">http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2005/09_effects_of_repeating_sat_0506.pdf]this[/url</a>], which only shows a rise in score from the March/May/June to the October/November/December test dates.</p>
<p>I couldn't find any averages for particular test dates, only years. I think it's an urban myth. Here is a Q&A type thing from Sylvan:</p>
<p>Is the SAT Reasoning Test easier on some dates?</p>
<p>No. This is a popular misconception probably arising from the fact that the SAT is a scaled test. Some students believe that it's better to take the SAT when lower scoring students take the exam so that the scaling is more favorable. This is completely false. The SAT is scaled so that scores from any test date are comparable. Although there is inevitably some minor variation in the difficulty of questions from test to test, this is adjusted in the scaling. It is true, however, that an individual student may find one test significantly harder than another. The words used or the math involved may simply have been harder for that particular student. This is one of the reasons why Sylvan's test preparation experts recommend taking the SAT more than once.</p>
<p>
[quote]
March is a particualrly bad time to take it.
[/quote]
If only I knew this when I took it... This is definitely true. The math didn't allow me to miss even one question. I missed one and got -30 reading and writing were both disasters. The writing section seemed like nothing I've ever practiced before. Ended up with a 2030, but I scored much, much higher on practice tests</p>
<p>Yes, I took the test in march and the writing and math curves were really cruel. I couldn't believe -1 math was 770 lol</p>
<p>The idea that the SAT in a particular month is always hard (or easy) comes up a lot, see for example: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/518574-curve-sat-test-date-better.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-act-tests-test-preparation/518574-curve-sat-test-date-better.html</a></p>
<p>The data don't support this idea. There is no question that in a given year, March may happen to be a harder than say June, but these patterns don't repeat. CB also has no reason to make one particular month always hard.</p>
<p>You can't go by scaled test scores: the difficulty of the test is reflected in the curve, i.e., which raw score maps to which scaled score. The curve BTW is not dependent on who takes the test.</p>
<p>I still don't get why they ONLY offer SAT Reasoning in March. It's proabbly some conspiracy lol</p>