<p>Oh - Frazzled kids went to public high school. At least one 1600 on first sitting per graduating class, and probably a couple more when superscored. Scores above 1500 at one sitting were not at all unusual, even discounting superscoring, and might have been most students in AP/honors classes, and especially those aiming for merit scholarships or “top 20” admissions. I did learn that most students found it more difficult to get that 800 on the CR than on the math.</p>
<p>I did not get the impression that high scores were tied to extensive prepping or family wealth, either - who has time to prep for the SAT when they are taking a full load of these classes and participating in EC’s? Perhaps I didn’t know that much about what other families were doing. Maybe the wealthier families are sending their children to one of many excellent private schools in the area, and are paying for SAT tutors?</p>
<p>In any case, I would guess that high scorers are not evenly divided among schools, even though all public schools have low-scoring students. When families move into our town, they will pay far more for real estate than in neighboring towns, because of the school district’s reputation. But, many families bring in considerably less than 200k per year, and quite a few high-achieving students live in very cramped housing because that is all their families could afford in our town.</p>