<p>Do SAT scores get curved based on the scores of other students in the same country as you are in? Or is the whole thing international?</p>
<p>The SAT is not curved to anyone, it is scaled. These scaled scores are made before that SAT test is taken. Your score does not depend on how well or terrible other people do.</p>
<p>For the domestic SAT, the scale is most definitely not set in advance. We have argued about this here at CC many times! One purpose of the “equating” sections is to provide the college board with a way to compare the performance of the testing group to other groups that have tested in the past. This is necessary and has to be done before any scale can be set.</p>
<p>Having said that, I have a question I could not find the answer to on the college board website. Since the international test is often recycled, do they use the scale they established when it was first given? That is what would make sense to me, but I don’t know that it is the case. </p>
<p>I also don’t think this is important. I am just curious. But it might explain, in part, why they recycle. Is the population that tests internationally big enough on a given day to establish a scale? And if they DO make a new scale, it would be interesting to compare it to the original. I bet it is harsher…</p>
<p>Again, it’s not scaled. But I don’t think that the scale is made before you take it. For example, October’s test is definitely of a higher scale than a February test, but that is dependent on others.</p>
<p>“October’s test is definitely of a higher scale than a February test”</p>
<p>First, there IS no “February” test. Second, this claim, however authoritative in tone, is dead wrong. There’s no shortage of data showing that scales are virtually random across months. Erik the Red has a site with the data, and it’s unequivocal.</p>
<p>I’m quite sure the same scale is used whenever a test is re-administered. How else would they handle situations like makeup tests, which could involve only a handful of students.</p>
<p>Sorry about that, but what I’ve heard from a lot of people are that typically, January is easier scale than October or November.</p>
<p>I don’t give a duck what you think mrnephew… Empirical data is obviously way more reliable than what people say, and data proves that scales are nearly random. And the test section is not to set the scale, it is an experimental section for future days, SO THEY CAN SET THE SCALE FOR THE TEST THAT IT’S ON!!!( they compare how someone with a certain score did on the experimental one to see the difficulty of it, so they can set timescale)</p>
<p>Again, I will repeat, THE SAT IS NOT CURVED TO HOW PEOPLE DO, IT IS SET TO A SCALE THAT IS DETERMINED FROM EXPERIMENTAL SECTIONS IN THE PAST.</p>
<p>Can you post a link or something? </p>
<p>I believe you, it’s just that most of the time, people say that it is scaled based relative to others. They do have a set score range, but the exact score is determined by that scale. </p>
<p>Why so much animosity? I was just posting what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that, but what I’ve heard from a lot of people are that typically, January is easier scale than October or November.”</p>
<p>The plural of “anecdote” is not “data.”</p>
<p>Here’s a link to some actual data:
[Let</a> me google that for you](<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You)</p>
<p>Uh thanks? </p>
<p>I was just recounting personal experience. I’m sorry if that’s not what the data actually suggests.</p>
<p>[How</a> the SAT is Scored - Overview of SAT Scoring](<a href=“The SAT – SAT Suite | College Board”>Your SAT Score Report Explained – SAT Suite | College Board)</p>
<p>See the link above.</p>
<p>“Equating also ensures that a student’s score does not depend on how well others did on the same edition of the test.”</p>
<p>In other words, there is no “curve.”</p>