<p>I’m a Junior at Saratoga Springs HS, NY. I’m maintaining a B (85-86) GPA range with 7 classes and I just took the SAT Reasoning in January, got my scores back. I know for a fact they’re terrible but I want to know if there at least a good stepping stone to get started. 480 Math/480 Reading/540 Writing. Bleh. I’m almost borderline average, slightly under-par which is kind of annoying. But either way, I’m taking the prep classes in March for the May SATs (which of course I’ll take to do better) and maybe even the June as well. But I’d like to know, do those scores mean I only got a 960 on the test? Or does writing count? (I’m pretty sure it does and in that case I’d have a 1500 exactly.) Sorry if it’s a stupid question, our school tends to not let us know all about SATs and college prep that we <em>need</em> to know rather than just what we want/ask. I also scored an 8 on my essay if that’s included.</p>
<p>Also, if I manage to increase my overall to 1700, would that be a great outlook for some of the following schools?:</p>
<p>-SUNY Cortland
-SUNY Oneonta
-SUNY Plattsburg
-Castleton State (VT)
-Wesley College (DE)
-Utica College
-Western New England College</p>
<p>Writing counts, so your overall score is a 1500. You certainly have time to raise your score, and you might find a prep course quite beneficial. I am not personally knowledgable about your college list, but look up those schools and see what their middle 50% scores are, and then you will be able to better judge what kinds of scores you need to be competitive there.</p>
<p>I think now I’m average for those places as I am average for everything ha, but I definitely think some prep courses and studying will do me great good.</p>
<p>Also, are there any chances to take the ACTs in spring? And how much do they differ from the SATs? (Were not really told much about them, at least not yet.)</p>
<p>There is an ACT testing date on April 14th that requires registration by March 9th, and an ACT testing date on June 9th that requires registration by May 4th. The ACT is pretty different from the SAT, in my opinion. It has 4 sections–Reading, English, Math, and Science. The reading is just what it sounds like–passages with questions, similar to the CR section of the SAT, only without sentence completions. Generally, I would say that this section is easier than the CR section of the SAT–the passages are less thick, and less vocabulary is needed. The English section is highly similar to the SAT WR multiple choice. You do need to know the rules for punctuation–correct placement of commas, semicolons, etc.–so in that way you may find it more challenging than the SAT WR (or not, depending). The math is pretty straightforward, and I think that it is comparable to the SAT math section. The science is a little tricky–it is essentially another reading section, but it can trip you up if you aren’t the greatest at science. For example, I got a 36 on the reading section and only a 29 on the sceince section. I haven’t taken the writing section of the ACT, but from what I understand it is a more straightforward topic than the SAT. The advantages of the ACT are that it is generally considered easier to study for, it has no guessing penalty, you can choose which score you want to send to colleges, and the averaging of the 4 scores makes it easier to stomach a low score in one subject. I also think that it favors strong math & science students.</p>
<p>Wateradept…definitely try the ACT, too. I’ve seen huge differences in the scores students get when the SAT and ACT are compared. You can find charts on CollegeBoard, etc. Take a prep course or get a book…a little practice can go along way!</p>
<p>Truth be told I really didn’t study for the Jan. SATs. I mean I memorized a few vocab words out of a “Hot Words for the SATs” book and did 5 or 6 practice sections in Math and Critical Reading in my giant book on the tests but my mind was on other things and the test seemed just like a test to me. Of course I understand how important a good score is so yes I’ll study much more throughout the next four months and take the prep classes, not to mention check into the ACTs as well. ^_^</p>
<p>Dude, wat r those scores?! Eww! At least you applied to average schools. You’d better work harder at the SATs dude, the’re really important, I mean if you have a B average its not too bad considering those schools, but those scores would turn people away.</p>
<p>^^Come on, don’t be a jerk…Wateradept’s scores are textbook “average”. Someone (many people, actually), have to score at the average–or else it wouldn’t be the average!! As many people score beneath the average as above…with some dedication to test prep, Wateradept can certainly raise his score–a 1700 isn’t out of the question, by any means.</p>
<p>national avg for sat is 15** for all 3 sections guys. He’s better than half the people in the country that took it most of which are college bound. Can they use work? yeah, will he get into the schools he listed with those… probly. im not going to mention my score but guys dont bash him because he’s not cc typical with 3.8+ gpa and 2100+ sats. A lot of ppl would be happy with his score. NOT everyone wants the ivies</p>
<p>That’s one thing I don’t get about these sites. I would think more average scorers, not just on the SATs (which was a fluke since I didn’t study!..ok so its not a fluke, but I probably could have done loads better) but for GPA, sports, ECs, would join these message boards and ask about their chances. Yet the most people I see on here are the “cc typical” as you said. I suppose that people of high standards go for help since they’re not exactly sure where their limits are or something to that extent. </p>
<p>To be honest, most of my friends that have grades like I do aren’t as “Time for College!” as I am. I love the whole process and I know I’m going to love it more after those May SATs.</p>