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<p>I expect that the OP would acknowledge that preparation also affects one’s score.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can truly state that the SAT measures intelligence since there are so many people who prepare so much for it, causing them to raise their score. For example, there are people who study books of vocabulary words. They probably score higher on the CR part (the vocab is a killer for me) but does that make them any smarter?</p>
<p>I mean, yes, smarter people generally do better on the SAT, but you can’t say that it measures intelligence…</p>
<p>"My writing score jumped from a 560 to an 800. "
“So while the SAT certainly does measure intelligence, it can also be prepared for”</p>
<p>Exactly… it is more preparation based than a measure of intelligence. The people who score extremely high, I’m sure they weren’t that high the first time they tried a practice test</p>
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<p>Some were.</p>
<p>And so I guess since it does measure intelligence, and you did well the first time, that means you are one of the smartest however-old-you-are year olds?</p>
<p>^ I’m not sure what you are trying to say.</p>
<p>tb0mb93 - Silverturtle is right in that many who score very high do so their first time - usually those people’s first time is 10th or 11th grade. But don’t be fooled - although test prep helps (case in point, look at me), intelligence is a heavy factor in determining your score. No matter how much test prep you get, if you’re not an intellectually gifted student, you’re almost certainly not going to get a 2100 or higher. (Unless your life consists of whittling away SAT books in your bedroom).</p>
<p>If I’ve never taken a Trig or Algebra class and score a 450 on the SAT math section, that doesn’t mean I’m dumber than that kid that prepped since he was in 6th grade. Or likewise, if my first language is French. OR if I came from a crappy school. There are reasons why really good schools have better averages than normal schools, and it’s not always the students (Perhaps the math teacher that graduated from MIT?).</p>
<p>To say Period is an overstatement. To say sorta is more like it.</p>
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<p>Of course there are exceptions, just as a standard written IQ test would not be a good metric for a blind person.</p>
<p>The majority of the CC posters are the top 3 % scores in the country or even World. Motivated students or students who “care” are obviously are going to be the only ones to post on this forum lol.</p>
<p>A couple relevant points have been made. I intended to address these originally, but if I made my post much longer nobody would have read it.</p>
<p>Yes, obviously the SAT is not really a fair comparison for someone with a first language other than English. </p>
<p>Yes, if someone has attended an absolutely horrendous school district, and has not adequately covered basic grammar/Algebra 2/whatever, then the SAT is not as valid for them.</p>
<p>In the vast majority of cases, though, it IS valid. The things it tests are pretty basic for a reason–it’s supposed to be an equalizer across good and bad school districts. </p>
<p>As for the highly intense prep (literally doing SAT drills over and over with the Blue Book), this kind of thing can “artificially” increase scores, but only to a point. This type of intense preparation is only really prevalent with the kind of kids that post on CC anyway–it is nowhere NEAR close to the norm when someone is talking about doing SAT prep, or even taking a prep class. </p>
<p>All in all, I do agree that someone with a CC-esque amount of intense preparation will have an SAT score that no longer necessarily indicates their intelligence–although their score will still have some validity. Keep in mind, though, that I did say there were exceptions; and putting in 100 hours of drilling through problems until you have literally internalized how the test is structured is an exception, not the norm. </p>
<p>As for people seeing large bumps in score on their 8th grade SAT vs. 12th grade…that is supposed to happen. Even though it may seem to you that you were just as “smart” in 8th grade, your brain has likely matured. A lot.</p>
<p>A high SAT does not necessarily indicate intelligence, but a low one is a strong sign of the opposite. Not always, but probably most of the time.</p>
<p>I take it we can assume that you did rather well on your SAT?</p>
<p>^^^^Is that based on the fact that he’s defending the validity of the SAT as a measure of intelligence, or because he seems pretty intelligent - which according to his original post and the topic of this thread - would mean that he probably did good on the SAT?</p>
<p>I don’t agree. Not that simple. I attend an internationally known highly competitive private school. My GPA is 3.72. My school has defined the rigor of my academic program as highly demanding.<br>
first SAT scores R-610 M-590 W-540\ 2nd round with a tutor R-710 M-610 W-610.</p>
<p>SAT II BIO E 780\Chem 800\US History 760
I did not crack a book for the SAT II tests.
What do my scores say about my intelligence? What shot do I have at getting into a highly competiive college?</p>
<p>I agree and disagree. I have a 3.9 GPA unweighted and my 2000 sat score makes my GPA seem inflated, but recently i got my SAT II scores back and i got 800 math 2 and 780 Chemistry (didn’t study for math). My problem is I feel like the Sat I are just tricky and can be easily improved if you study and get used to the format.</p>
<p>^ The SAT I and SAT II’s are completely different animals.</p>
<p>“The SAT I and SAT II’s are completely different animals.”</p>
<p>^I agree completely. Although very difficult, it’s possible for most competent, academically bright students in the United States to score at or near 800 on most or all of their SAT II’s if there is extremely rigorous preparation for the tests (with the exception of the Literature test), whereas with the SAT I, hardcore test prep won’t guarantee a near-800 score.</p>
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<p>That completely supports the statement that it sorta measures intelligence.</p>
<p>Are you really smarter by prepping an SAT book for oh, 3 hours a day for 2 months? No, but if your score doesn’t increase significantly (or even a bit), either you prepped the wrong way, or something is wrong. Although it is not normal to do that, if it is done, a person’s SAT score will increase, and that sort of skews things. Though, if you are mentioning an average, as in an SAT measures the average intelligence of the US, I would think that’s pretty accurate.</p>
<p>SATs don’t measure creativity and inventiveness, thats what true intelligence is. The SAT can tell you that you are good at math, it can’t tell you whether you can equate things in the world that have yet to be equated. No test can measure that, there is no true way to measure intelligence.</p>
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<p>Thank you for reading my mind. :)</p>