<p>The average SAT score at my school is a 950/1600. Would colleges see a score a score such as a 1290 (my score) in a different light due to this? I go to a fairly rural school if that helps any.</p>
<p>not really. standardizes tests are meant as a way to compare all students on the same level. the rest of the students at your school don't have much to do with your own performance.</p>
<p>Actually, I'm pretty sure they cut you a little break if your school sucks.</p>
<p>not at all, however where you live might give you advantages</p>
<p>my school REALLY sucks, i've been living in the same place and in the same school district for ten years, and my scores are still in the high percentiles</p>
<p>i go to school and don't learn much of anything with the exception of some AP classes with great teachers......the rest of the teachers pretty much suck and I totally relate to the "Stupid in America" special.....i've learned all i can through self-initiated learning, watching the news, etc.</p>
<p>i think if I went to really great school, i would have been able to do a LOT better in terms of extracurricular opportunities and advanced knowledge....i mean, some people know a WHOLE lot coming into college from being taught by teachers with phds and such.</p>
<p>So i think stuff like that, like academic opportunities, they take your high school into consideration. But SATs scores most indicate, well, how well you take the SAT. People don't really learn the SAT stuff in class as much as it is inherent reasoning ability and test-taking skills.</p>
<p>and i put a lot of my hope in what newby says, cause i don't see many people here from Mississippi</p>
<p>"People don't really learn the SAT stuff in class as much as it is inherent reasoning ability and test-taking skills."</p>
<p>Yeah, it's partly that, but especially in the math section, if you had wonderful algebra, trig, precalc, geometry, etc. teachers, you are bound to score higher. Same with the vocabulary-- a good English teacher should help you score higher on the Sentence Completions.</p>
<p>"...from being taught by teachers with phds and such."</p>
<p>Just FYI, excluding private schools and stuff, virtually nobody has high school teachers with Ph.Ds...</p>
<p>My magnet school has a few :)</p>
<p>What's a magnet school?</p>
<p>It is a school that "attracts" people and then repels them. =P</p>
<p>OK then...</p>
<p>It's public?</p>
<p>ya it is ...</p>
<p>Despite the fact that my school offers 10 AP classes, my school is definitely meh.</p>
<p>Mine has 10 APs as well, but I think it's pretty good...</p>
<p>yeah, there's a (public) math and science school in my state where almost all teachers are phDs...</p>
<p>and i had pretty average/kinda bad math teachers from algebra, trig, geometry, etc........for standardized tests, i basically just learned what's on the test and practiced and practiced.......i actually think it has more to do with your foundation in math, which starts in elementary school (i had great teachers then)....most of what's covered in high school math is not even on the test; they just test the same narrow group of material over and over again</p>
<p>you're right about the vocab thing, except that, for me at least, i forget most of the vocab stuff my good english teachers have taught me....for that, i studied the recommended SAT word lists</p>
<p>so, i think you're right about classes playing a factor in it all. but you can still score high without the classes, and I don't think you can blame low scoring on the school</p>
<p>Yeah... you really have to study on your own to make big gains, I think. Because even if your school teaches SAT type topics, chances are it's not going to be exactly in the areas you need work in...</p>
<p>Anyone think a 1410 SAT is seen as respectable by colleges saying that I have never had time to prepare, I live in south texas (compared to third world education in Newsweek), and I go to a public school that is average to above average in quality?</p>
<p>Also, anyone thing that Ivy leagues will see my 3.5 UW GPA as reasonable saying that each year I have had atleast five core classes with atleast eight total and</p>
<p>five AP's and 7 IB classes by the end of my senior year with this year's courseload consisting of</p>
<p>IB Physics HL
IB Math HL
IB English HL
IB History HL
IB Spanish SL
IB Art SL
IB Theory of Knowledge
AP MacroEconomics
AP Government</p>
<p>last year</p>
<p>IB Physics HL
IB Math HL
IB English HL
IB History HL
IB Spanish SL
IB Art SL
IB Biology SL (6, my internal assesments suked. I write lab reports too concisely)
Computer Science (I taught the class)</p>
<p>and 10th</p>
<p>AP Chemistry(4, blah I shoulda had a 5, but blew it with KSP in the free-response)
AP Comp Sci (3, but my teacher didn't know java. We crammed 1 month before the exam as a class and I was the only 3)
Pre-AP World History
Pre-AP Pre Calc (Dual enrollment)
Pre-AP English II
Communication Graphics (necessary...)
Spanish II
and one more that I forgot....</p>
<p>BTW, my ranking is 13/458 if that matters. (89.5 UW, 101.5 W) </p>
<p>Class difficulty</p>
<p>AP/IB (IB IS HARDER!!!!!! lol)
Pre-AP
CP
Standard</p>
<p>i would classify that as a location boost, maybe</p>
<p>with all those APs, i don't see a reason why SAT would be related to strength of school</p>
<p>but your SAT is still good anyway</p>