I just got my PSAT score back: 1250 on the oldschool test, 1870 on the brand new kind. I was wondering how well all you college students out there did on your SATs (past or present). What is the score you need to get into a good college? (I’m only a sophomore, dont make fun of me).
I got a 1260 on the SAT with 0 prep 1 year after moving from french Canada. Look where I’m now. I got a 32 on my MCAT (88% percentile) without studying. MCATs and SATs mean nothing. Standardized testing is such bullshit , its not even funny. If you get something in the range of a 1200-1300 you can get into anywhere decent without worrying as long as you don’t jack off in HS.
1560, on the old SAT. I believe standardized tests are very unreliable in the long run. They’re more like progress markers than permanent measurements.
I’ve got a 3.0 GPA. Is that considered jacking off? I’ve been meaning to post about this for awhile now, thanks for giving me the oppurtunity WM.
My parents and school make it seem so bad. I know 3.0 sucks, but am i screwed? I’m a junior, so this is like, my last chance to move it. =(
3.0 isn’t stellar and depending where you live, like in CA, that can be uncompetitive. Currently, its very hard to get into a UC. It depends also what you do in terms of extra curriculars and what those classes that are slamming you are. 3.0 isn’t “bad” but don’t count on it to impress Ivy Leagues or UCs. Its not jacking off, but you have 2 years ahead, you have a good chance to pull it up. Also, keep in mind that the schools don’t look as much at your freshman year than the other years.
For people that didn’t like HS so much, there’s always community college. When you do your general ed reqs at a CC, your HS past is erased.
Meaning the colleges look at the Community College grades instead of High School? Thanks man, i hadn’t heard of that before.
Yeah, when you transfer, your CC grades are really what gets taken into account. But the thing is, if you didn’t fare so well in HS, you need to make sure not to repeat the same mistakes later. That is a very common phenomenon.
In general terms, what is a PSAT?
Pre-SAT. You take in HS in the US to have an idea of how you’d do on the actual SAT. Its kinda bullshitty. I didn’t take it cuz it was offered before I entered HS.
Thank you, now we’re down to SAT. What’s SAT?
SAT is a math and english test you take to enter college. Its a lot of bullshit, particularly if you’re not in an environment directed at preparing you for the test (which most places try to be to some extent , or provide a service for). MCAT is a reading comprenehsion, physical chemistry and biology test you take to get in med school.
We had something like that in Norway a long time ago. Most tests like it are long since gone though. Which is sort of sad, since now there’s nothing to stop students from entering classes they don’t have hope to complete.
LSAT is also there for getting into law schools. Then there’s stuff like the GED. And other -AT tests, one of which I think is some sort of business test.
The SAT is being changed to include an essay portion in it to try and counter the whole “SAT Prep Course! Crack the SAT code!” type stuff some highschoolers take. I prefer the ACT anyway.
And for humor’s sake: Lowest Known Raw SAT Score!
I never did understand all the numbers on the PSAT score sheet. I had to have my counselor tell me if it was bad or not. ^^
I’d figure around a 1300 on the original SAT will make colleges interested in you, in the very least.
Here’s how pointless the SAT’s are now.
The president of the American Federation of Teachers came up with a unique defense of the decline in SAT scores: The low test scores, he said, mean that teachers are doing a better job! They are getting more students to stay in high school and to go on to college…but a severe underlying problem-teachers giving inferior education.
Here’s some ideas as to why.
Sociologists Donald Hayes and Loreen Wolfer are convinced that the culprit is the “dummied down” textbooks that pervade U.S. schools. Some point their fingers at less homework, fewer term papers, grade inflation, and burned-out teachers who are more interested in collecting their paychecks than in educating their students (Henslin. 523).
As you can see, the American education system is still in need of work.
I took the SAT twice. The first time I got a 980, then a 990. I was pissed I didn’t break the 1000 mark because my college would have given me more money.
I got in 90 percentile on the English part, I bombed the math part though. I never want to see another train problem again.
I took a PSAT test just last october I think. THough it didn’t say my grade, by the look of it I did better on the writing and reading part than mathematics. 
“Sociologists Donald Hayes and Loreen Wolfer are convinced that the culprit is the “dummied down” textbooks that pervade U.S. schools. Some point their fingers at less homework, fewer term papers, grade inflation, and burned-out teachers who are more interested in collecting their paychecks than in educating their students (Henslin. 523).”
And there are so many problems with the system it is mind boggling. And people will not address these problems because it would mean unhappy children, parents that don’t understand how shit works, increased taxes and accountability for the waste of money like Iraq.
I like to note that it states teachers are burned out and just collecting paychecks. Teachers. Collecting pay checks. It almost makes it sound like they’re getting some fat paycheck that lets them use hundred dollar bills to light their gold plated Cuban cigars.
A lot of it too. I actually like the high school I’m enrolled in (Denver School of the Arts-- yes, it is a public school), mostly because it has a surprising number of (in my opinion) cool students, there is enough competetion that the non-artistic don’t go in. However, there are a fair number of bad teachers, but also enough good ones, especially the writing teacher, to definitely make it worth while.
My school can also avoid many of the school district’s ruels, especially in terms of dress code, because we are the only school in Denver with ‘Excellent’ test scores. This is because anyone who gets below a C and doesn’t correct it within a semester must leave the school.
My current grade is a 4.195 average, thanks to Honors classes. Then again, I’m only a freshman, and classes are extra easy, so that could change.