The SAT II score and it's national percentile which one is better reference factor?

MilwDad
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:10:13 +0000

This is just a function of the number of people taking the various tests, and the “self-selection” of those who do. For example, relatively few students take the Physics subject test, and those who do tend to be very good at it. So a higher percentage of them score well. In contrast, for the SAT 1, every student (about a million and a half) takes the test, and they have widely varying levels of ability. So while a 700 on the SAT1 might be well into the top ten percent of all takers, a 700 on the Physics SAT2 might be only in the 70th percentile of those self-selected few who take that test. I haven’t checked the actual numbers, but that’s the gist of it.

The Chinese test is probably a special circumstance. Not only do few students take that test, but presumably a large percentage of those who do are native speakers. Thus a very high percentage of them “ace” the test.