As you know, Collegeboard released concordance tables for the redesigned SAT to old SAT and ACT. This is to give colleges a sense of what new SAT scores will represent in comparison to old tests. However, we have a few problems here. There is an inconsistency in the concordance tables when we compare scores. A converted score will have a different percentile than the original score. For example, an 1840 on the old SAT will convert to a 1310. However, an 1840 is ABOUT 82nd percentile nationally, while a 1310 is a 92nd percentile nationally. Logically, it would make sense for the Collegeboard to concord scores in accordance with percentiles, right?
National percentile thing has never been accurate from the get go. All a sham to make people feel better about themselves
So are you saying the Collegeboard used other means to determine the concordance of its old SAT - new SAT scores and disregarded the percentiles?
You are half right, but the new SAT was never meant to be equal to the old SAT in the first place so that’s only natural they’d be different. Notice how a 1600 would equal a 1590 on the old test. Not sure about the exact details but the national percentage is taken from what I’ve heard is a theoretical selection when it used to be only who actually took it I think.
It is not supposed to equal the old SAT, yes. However, the Collegeboard has released concordance tables to equate scores. I’m just wondering how Collegeboard will interpret the percentiles and the tables at this point.
@GMKoon The percentiles for the new SAT are based on a sample population of students. The percentiles reported with the PSAT have been shown to be inaccurate, and there is no reason to think that the SAT percentiles will be much more accurate. It’s also important to keep a number of things in mind:
“National percentile” (or “Nationally representative sample”) means something different now than it did in the past. College Board started reporting this figure based on a projection as if EVERY student in a class took the SAT. The traditional way of reporting a percentile is from the group of test takers. CB still does that, but it buries the number a bit (“User - National”). Keep in mind that even the latter figure is based on a study group. The whole class of 2017 hasn’t finished with the SAT yet, so there is no way to report fully accurate percentile data.
Looking at 1310 on the new SAT, I see 92nd percentile “Nationally representative” but 87th percentile for “User - National.”
Another problem is that CB changed how it calculates percentiles. They used to report the percentage of students scoring BELOW a score. They now report AT or below. This makes for an extra step in interpreting the old data.
For the class of 2015, I see the 1840 as reported as 85th percentile. The good news is that, in this case, the defintion doesn’t change things (an 1850 is still the 85th percentile).
All things considered, the 87th percentile estimate for 1310 on the new SAT is similar to the 85th percentile for 1840 on the old SAT. It’s frustrating that CB has introduced all of these changes on top of the changes inherent to moving from old to new.
Technically it is not College Board’s responsibility to interpret the percentiles and concordance tables. They create them, of course, but it’s up to the colleges to decide what to do with the numbers. Most colleges will be set up to translate using concordances. Percentiles aren’t all that useful for colleges, because the group of national students or test takers is not at all similar to the students applying to College X. Colleges are used to evaluating applicants based on SAT and ACT scores rather than percentiles.