Percentiles

Test Preparation
1

<p>Do the percentiles that show up on the website represent the percentile that you got or the lowest possible percentile that one could get to achieve your particular score? Has anybody ever gotten a 99 percentile on, say, Math IIc here?</p>

2

<p>It's the percentile that you got.</p>

3

<p>Sorry to bump up an old post, but I've found evidence to suggest otherwise. For the SAT II, the percentiles that show up are just the lowest possible percentile to score your given score (200-800), as taken from 2003. The numbers that my friends all reported getting are suspiciously similar to the numbers in this PDF.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/pdf/table_12.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2003/pdf/table_12.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>I got 97 percentile on Math I</p>

5

<p>conker wrote, opening the thread, "Do the percentiles that show up on the website represent the percentile that you got or the lowest possible percentile that one could get to achieve your particular score?" </p>

<p>Well, what's the difference? What is really at issue here? If your standard score is at the top of the standard score range, but ties with 10 percent of all test-takers, you got a 90th percentile score, by definition of "percentile," didn't you? You could make your question clearer by referring to some specific examples and showing your steps in concluding that this makes a difference.</p>

6

<p>conker, the percentiles on that should be EXACTLY the percentiles your friends are getting. Notice: "These national percentile ranks for SAT Subject Test scores appear on the SAT Subject Test score reports for the 2004–2005 test administrations."</p>

<p>and, these percentiles are based on class of 2004, not 2003.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Well, what's the difference? What is really at issue here? If your standard score is at the top of the standard score range, but ties with 10 percent of all test-takers, you got a 90th percentile score, by definition of "percentile," didn't you? You could make your question clearer by referring to some specific examples and showing your steps in concluding that this makes a difference.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh, I realize what you're saying. I apologize for being so unclear. I am not talking about a percentile that is based on what score you got on the 200-800 scale, but rather a percentile based on your raw score. Therefore, someone who got 1 wrong and 6 wrong on Math IIc might both have an 800 but a different percentile because they have a different raw score. </p>

<p>
[quote]
and, these percentiles are based on class of 2004, not 2003.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I didn't say "class of 2003"; I just said "2003". Since the class of 2004 took their SAT II's in 2003, I don't think I am wrong here.</p>

8

<p>the percentiles are based on the class of 2004. sure, most people do take the tests spring of junior year or fall of senior year, but the percentiles are based on the tests scores in general of the class of 04, be it from fall of 11th grade (2002) or from January of 04. So, you are wrong in saying that it is only from 03.</p>

9

<p>Hmm...I doubt that they would go through the trouble of doing that. For one, if they were just looking at the Class of 2004, they'd also have to consider tests that someone might have taken in 9th and 10 grades. That's an unnecessarily difficult way of generating percentiles. For one, it would be no less meaningless to us and much easier for them to simply generate the scores as taken directly from 2003 (regardless of class). Also, the link that I supplied above listed percentiles that matched those of my classmates exactly. That particular PDF listed scores from 2003 (not from class of 2004), I believe. Maybe CB used "Class of 2004" in the SAT organizer as a matter of convenience? I really don't know.</p>

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<p>They do it the way I said. It's not that hard. </p>

<p>The computer's conversation with itself:
"What year is this kid graduating?"
"2004"
"Okay, then we'll use the scores"</p>

<p>They take the scores from the last test you've taken. So, if someone in class of 05 took the SAT in 10th grade and got a 1500 and decided not to take it again, that 1500 would be used to calculate the percentiles for class of 2005.</p>

<p>Read Page 2, Using this Report, 1st paragraph: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2004/2004_CBSNR_total_group.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2004/2004_CBSNR_total_group.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also, that thing you linked to is based on Class of 2004, not "scores from 2003" Read the bottom: "Percentile ranks are based on scores from the 2004 College-Bound Senior
cohort" (read: class of 04)</p>