# \#2 Pencil Please... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271 "2001-03-24T04:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/21 "2001-03-24T20:44:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AETBOND417 \* > \*\*PSAT this year. 750 verbal, 700 math. I take the real SAT next year. \*\* I got the same score as you only 800 verbal and 650 math. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/22 "2001-03-24T21:31:09Z")
630 verbal, 630 math. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Erika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/47e85d/32.png) [@Erika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erika)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/23 "2001-03-24T22:01:17Z")
760 verbal, 730 math, no ACT one of the few tests I did better on verbal than on mathā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/24 "2001-03-24T22:14:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DynoSaur \* > \*\*It doesnā€™t matter after your first day of college. It may not even matter -before- your first day of college, dependingā€¦ > > This is true, of course. What is also true, obviously, from this thread, is that youā€™ll remember the score for the rest of your life anyway. > > Which will really piss you off when you canā€™t remember your PIN number or where you put your car keys, let me tell you. > > And good luck to both FPK and Zoggie. \*\* Thanks, Dyno. I know it doesnā€™t matter, and that a lot of people remember it. I read this article in Times (I think) that talked about famous peopleā€™s scores. So I guess itā€™s a universal thing. Anyway, IMO, what really matters is if youā€™ve got a cute SAT instructor. I do. šŸ™‚ Alright, Iā€™ll shut up now. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/25 "2001-03-24T22:22:16Z")
790 Verbal (only missed 2 or 3 questionsā€¦ why oh why could it not be an 800?), 680 Math, (1470 composite) ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/26 "2001-03-24T22:23:53Z")
720 verbal, 570 math. ---
**Author:** ![smilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilla)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/27 "2001-03-24T22:36:27Z")
29 ACT, 760 Verbal, 640 Math, but that was because I stupidly drank an entire diet Coke between two sections and had to pee really really bad. I was distracted, and too cheap to take the test again. Not like it matters since the SAT isnā€™t really a valid predictor of college performance. On another note, a few eeks ago I walked in off the street (practically) and took a free practice LSAT Iā€™d just heard about. I got a 148. I donā€™t know whether to be happy or gravely disappointed in myself. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/28 "2001-03-25T03:12:46Z")
Hmmm, 1330 total on SAT, donā€™t remember how it broke out, but verbal was higher. You mean they curve it now? I didnā€™t know that. Obviously, this was long ago and far away (1983-84). Donā€™t remember PSAT or ACT scores, but on all of my tests I scored in the 98 or 99th percentile. Did well enough in the PSAT that, not only did I have the highest score in my schoolā€™s history, but it got me in the National Merit thingy. (Dā€™oh, now I sound like Iā€™m bragging!) Iā€™ve always done better on verbals, though. I ove the language, love to hear it used correctly, and LOVE literature. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/29 "2001-03-25T03:24:48Z")
800 verbal, 720 math. Donā€™t remember my ACT, but it was 99th percentile. Iā€™ve always tested well. Thatā€™s why Iā€™m going to be paying about $3000 for four years of college. ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/30 "2001-03-25T04:12:19Z")
I have a little story to go with my sad, sad tale. After 12 years of always scoring in the 99th percentile, I took my SAT. I took it only to compete for the National Merit Scholarship. (The schools I was looking at consider the ACT more important.) I did well on the PSAT, and was predicted to get like 1500+ on the SAT. I had gotten a 33 on the ACT, which, while somewhat lower than I had hoped, was good enough, I thought. I took that test cold: woke up, ate a Pop-Tart and walked in. All on the day before a big 3 week German exchange. So I figured the SAT would be a piece of cake. Well, I donā€™t know what went wrong, but I ended up with a 1310. Worst of all, it disqualified me from the Merit scholarship, and the school Iā€™m going to automatically gives like an 80% tuition scholarship to Merit Finalists. So now Iā€™ve got to apply for all these other scholarships to make up the differenceā€¦it makes me so mad!! Just further evidence that standardised tests mean little. Now if youā€™ll excuse me, I have to go punch the wall. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/31 "2001-03-25T04:47:44Z")
SATs in seventh grade (before curving, or ā€œrecenteringā€, the little R next to your scores if you took them after 1995): 630 v, 640 m PSATs: 800 v, 790 m SATs in tenth grade: 800 v, 710 m (and I felt horribly stuck up for feeling bad about the ā€œlowā€ math grade"). **Kat** : How did you get a score that wasnā€™t a multiple of ten? Did they used to give scores in multiples of five? ---
**Author:** ![Meleemancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Meleemancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meleemancer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/32 "2001-03-25T07:09:41Z")
780 math 750 verbal But Iā€™ve always tested well, so there probably arenā€™t any valid conclusions that can be drawn from this. Heck, I guess that youā€™d get mostly very high scores by asking this question on these boards - partly because the average board member is very intelligent, but also partly because they (and people who have horror stories) are the only ones likely to share. Unless some joker posts some analysis like this and someone with a ā€œmerelyā€ average or above average score reads it as a challenge. šŸ˜‰ Oh, and the main effect Iā€™ve seen these scores have (aside from the obvious effect on college admissions) is that as far as Iā€™ve seen, when people want to see how ā€œintelligentā€ you are, they asked about you IQ in grade/high school. In college they seem to ask about SATs. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/33 "2001-03-25T17:51:47Z")
**GilaB** , they mustā€™ve. Anyone else got a score ending in 5? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/34 "2001-03-25T21:24:17Z")
I noticed that in Time magazine recently, in an article in which they asked a bunch of political figures and celebrities their SAT scores, many had scores that werenā€™t multiples of ten. Some werenā€™t even multiples of five. The only one that I remember offhand is our esteemed president, who had a 1236, implying that either heā€™s averaging at least five exams or that scores were given out not in multiples of five or ten. (I noticed it because this meant that in seventh grade, Iā€™d outscored him (this is a scary thought, folks, because I sure ainā€™t smart enough to run the country, although the debate over whether the SATs measure intelligence is a whole different thing).) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/35 "2001-03-26T03:50:21Z")
They called it the ā€œCollege Entrance Examā€ and wouldnā€™t tell you the your score. You told them what colleges to send scores to and that it. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/36 "2001-03-26T03:52:08Z")
They called it the ā€œCollege Entrance Examā€ and wouldnā€™t tell you your score. You told them what colleges to send scores to and that was it. ---
**Author:** ![ghandi5569](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@ghandi5569](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ghandi5569)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/37 "2001-03-26T04:42:37Z")
I got a 1280, but I donā€™t remember the breakdown. However, I wouldnā€™t bother paying for a prep courseā€¦they have practice tests in most public libraries, most guidance counselors offices, and I think online. What helps is if you know basic alegra and geometry, and have a good grasp of basic latin roots (I took Latin and it was one of the best preps that I hadā€“I know that my verbal was so nuch higher than my mathā€¦I still count on my fingers). Also remember that it isnā€™t necessarily just your SAT or ACT scores getting you into college, but the application essays, the recommendations and the transcripts. If a college refuses to look at those things based on a standardized test score, you probably donā€™t want to spend 4+ years there. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/38 "2001-03-26T19:29:11Z")
Those practice tests are just about the best thing you can do to get ready. Take 'em just like you would take the real thing - each time youā€™ll get more efficient at answering questions, so when you are taking the real test youā€™ll have more time to puzzle over the answers you arenā€™t sure about. And it costs nothing to very little to get copies of the practice tests. I didnā€™t take the SAT, I took the ACT - I _think_ my score was something like 28 or 29, but I canā€™t remember now. I sure do remember the _worst_ score I ever got, though - which was on the GRE - both my verbal and analytical scores were good - but the math score was a very dismal 460. Iā€™m just lucky I had the other two scores to pull that stinker up! But, as **betenoir** said: > [@](#): > > [bleep] you Iā€™m an artist šŸ˜ƒ I took the GRE about a year after I left college and I hadnā€™t had any math to speak of since junior year of high school. If you donā€™t use it, you do lose it! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/39 "2001-03-26T21:25:12Z")
1360 ā€“ 730 verbal, 630 math. That was, incidentally, the best Iā€™d ever done on the math, and the worst Iā€™d ever done on the verbal. That was a pretty mediocre score for my high school, but I couldnā€™t be bothered to retest. They donā€™t (or didnā€™t at the time, anyway) give the ACT in New York State. ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271/40 "2001-03-27T02:44:02Z")
You wanna talk about something painful - I took the SAT three times and each time it went down!! SAT - 1260 (best) ACT - 32 I just did quite a bit better on the ACT for some unknown reasonā€¦ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-pencil-please/59271.md?page=3)