SAT Scaling

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>Which administrations of the SAT’s have the toughest scaling and the toughest questions? Does it vary wildly?</p>

2

<p>Hey! I hate California, too!</p>

<p>It really, from what I’ve seen, is a total crapshoot.</p>

3

<p>Hey, I want Wharton too. I don’t have the grades to get in though.</p>

4

<p>Nah, I don’t want Wharton anymore.</p>

5

<p>This has come up before. Here is the anaswer pasted from one of my previous posts.</p>

<p>Short answer: All tests are about the same difficulty for the whole high school test population</p>

<p>Long answer:</p>

<p>Each and every question that counts on the SAT has been tested on real students. Every SAT that is given has one section does not count towards your score. This section is used to test questions that may be used on future tests. The validity of questions is confirmed by correlating the performance of students on the new questions with the performance on previously validated questions. Using this data the ETS tries to make exam the same difficulty each time. For the tested population as whole, the test is always of the same difficulty. Individuals however may perceive that some testes are harder than others, but for the whole tested group every test is of the same difficulty. The scoring scale is determined prior to the test based on the number of easy, medium and difficult questions in the test. For example if there are more difficult questions on one test, then you can get more questions wrong and still get the same scaled score as on test which has less difficult questions. For example if you got one wrong on the OCT 2005 Math SAT you got a 790. In the Nov 2005 Math test if you got one wrong, you got a 780. This is because of the fewer difficult questions on the Nov test. </p>

<p>Bottom line: All tests are about the same difficulty for the whole test population. Any perceived differences are “random noise”. An individual’s score can change form test to test due factors such as how well they are able to concentrate or how familiar they with subject of the reading passages, but for the whole group of students tested for the year only 5% will get better than a 700 in the CR. This is constant form year to year.</p>

6

<p>Why do you guys hate CA? haha</p>

7

<p>I liked CA a lot actually, after I went there for a visit. I really wanted to apply to some UC schools but by then it was too late (their dead line is nov 15th or so).</p>

8

<p>Yeah, it’s great here. I’d love to go to a UC :)</p>