itsoukay

I recently heard there were curves on SAT scores and I was just wondering how marginally this would impact your score? (What's the most it could be pushed down/up?) Also, how does that contrast with the grading system of like +1 for correct answer -1/4 for incorrect?

Also, when you take your SAT multiple times, are you allowed to only send in your best score to colleges and have the others concealed?
Thanks (:

CTScoutmom

Curving simply means that the final score (range of 200-800) on each section is equivalent to the same score on a different testing. There is not a straight line correlation between your raw score (+1;-1/4 scoring) and the scaled score. On a particularly difficult test, you might be able to get 2 wrong and still get an 800, while on another test you might have to have a perfect raw score to get an 800, 2 skipped might get you 790, and 2 wrong might get you 780.

If you use score choice, you can send whichever scores you want, and not send others - however, you cannot choose individual section scores to send. You send them as a full sitting. So if your first try you do well on the Math but lousy on the CR or Writing, and the second time your Math score goes down, but your CR and Writing go up, it is still in your best interest to send both. You can't superscore yourself, and most colleges will use your best scores anyway.

itsoukay

This helped a bunch (: Thanks!

rspence

The test scores are scaled/curved using a normal distribution ("bell curve") with a mean of ~500 and standard deviation ~100.

Also, most colleges only take into consideration your best scores for each section.

jerseyboi

haha rspence it's weird you said that cuz I just learned that in ap stat today hahaha

rspence

Haha nice...

fignewton

^But not quite correct. The SAT is not scored to achieve a particular mean or standard deviation; both float due to the need to standardize scores. The SAT was recentered in 1995 primarily because the average verbal score had drifted too far from the center of the scale. You have to go back to the pre-1941 SAT to find mean and standard deviation targets for SAT scores.