Unholy Sigma

When you see an impressive SAT score, is the first thing which pops into your mind "Wow this person must be a great test taker!", or "Wow this person must be really smart!"?

Which section is the most reliable indication of a person's intelligence?

Do you think intelligence is even measurable?

I'll give and defend my opinion later. For now, say whatever you like, but keep it civil.

BuddyMcAwesome

all the people that I personally know who I think are very smart got high SAT scores. People who others may find very smart but I saw as just hard workers only did okay, so I would say the SAT does measure intelligence, however not perfectly. Of course intelligence is measurable. IQ tests do a pretty good job of figuring out who has potential.

hmmmmmmm

Other "intelligence" tests, with the explicit intention of quantifying intelligence are statistically supposed to render individual results essentally the same every time.

The SAT however is something one can study for and improve upon; absolute "intelligence" can thus be drastically increased with relative ease, drawing the association with actual intelligence into dubious light.

So, I think it's kind of like a cheap, inaccurate, and misleading representation of intelligence when interpreted as such.

stephennn

to some extent, it does.

Charlie Brown

I think it's more indicative of wealth and determination/preparation.

Rishmeister

Look at it this way: from a college admissions viewpoint, it's the most indicative thing on your whole resume of your intelligence; you're not going to get a better indicator than that, because colleges don't consider IQ tests for admission.

stephennn

i have plenty of wealthy friends that took expensive SAT classes and yet still scored in the 1700s.

my family earns considerably less than them and yet my SAT score pwns theirs.

Significa

That's cause SAT classes are useless

HiPeople

Yea to some extent it does, but it also measures your ability to work hard at something and if you are a good test taker.

thenextbigthing

No, a good score on the SAT might be an indicator of intelligence but you can't prepare and strategize for an IQ test.

Unholy Sigma

My opinion is that the SAT gives an intelligence range, but it can't directly match up with one's IQ score. One would have to factor in study time to get a more accurate reading. Those who take the test multiple times eventually reach a ceiling for each section, which more studying won't break. I'd say this score is the one that could be most closely matched with IQ.

Lewdawgdude

When i see a good SAT score, i think the person is well prepared, smart, or a good test taker. I would never correlate it with a high IQ. To me there is a huge difference between being "smart" and having a "high IQ". The question is up for grabs, and can go either way. Obviously people who scored high are going to say it measures IQ, but the fact that you can improve your score gives an extremly strong counter arguement.

Unholy Sigma

Of course, but most improvement occurs in the Writing and Math sections. Does this mean that one's CR score gives the best indication of intelligence?

jakeiscool

what if your not a native speaker^^
i think you are at a disadvantage for CR, so i dont think CR is quite the best indicator.

Unholy Sigma

Well then I guess not, although that's a little obvious isn't it?