# Are the SAT's used for anything OTHER than college/university admissions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126 "2012-04-18T05:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/21 "2012-04-19T00:58:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Huh. I would have thought the scores required would be at least 100-150 points higher. Just reporting what I read. But if I understand wikipedia, average scores did not drastically change from '93-'94. No idea what the SD was. When I took it around 2000, it seems that I was 3 standard deviations above mean (combined score, but math and verbal weren’t very different). 99.6th percentile!? The GRE is weird because math scores are much inflated. A verbal score of 650 is 93rd %ile, while 650 analytical would put you in the ~56th %ile. In other words, people tend to do worse raw score-wise on verbal, but the percentiles can be similar. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/22 "2012-04-19T03:49:48Z")
Funny, I never had the least desire to join MENSA. But now that my SAT score can get me in, I can’t wait to join. I think I finally want to find some use for that score, after it’s being useless all these years. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/23 "2012-04-19T13:55:42Z")
I got into MENSA with my SAT score from 1990. Only stayed a member for one year, didn’t really do much for me. I also got into a summer program at a university based on my score, which meant free room and board, working with a professor, and some nice pocket money for a couple of months. Met some great people there, too. Of course, when we compared scores, mine was the second lowest in the group, which was a bit humbling. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/24 "2012-04-19T23:15:00Z")
Topic is interesting to me because my kid is currently in a SAT prep class. The high end score now is 2400. He began with a 1650 on practice test. I was going to try to figure out what that meant statistically by “Googling” around for hours unless somebody here happens to know. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/25 "2012-04-19T23:20:59Z")
Wikipedia it. 1600 is 61st percentile, 1700 is 72nd. It may be easier to interpret to see if one subject score is lagging behind the others. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/26 "2012-04-19T23:23:15Z")
Topic is interesting to me because my kid is currently in a SAT prep class. The high end score now is 2400. He began with a 1650 on practice test. I was going to try to figure out what that meant statistically by “Googling” around for hours unless somebody here happens to know. ---
**Author:** ![cynyc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@cynyc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynyc)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/27 "2012-04-19T23:27:56Z")
Well I poked around enough to develop a craving for a drink. Only conclusion I could reach is one better have 2000+++ to get into any of the Ivy schools. My cheap read is 1650 puts my kid in the 67’ish percentile. IQ-wise he’s probably in the 95th. But I’m trying to talk him into going to barber school anyway. 😉 College don’t mean shit (much) anyway. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/28 "2012-05-11T15:50:10Z")
> [@cynyc](#): > > Well I poked around enough to develop a craving for a drink. > > Only conclusion I could reach is one better have 2000+++ to get into any of the Ivy schools. > > My cheap read is 1650 puts my kid in the 67’ish percentile. IQ-wise he’s probably in the 95th. > > But I’m trying to talk him into going to barber school anyway. 😉 > > College don’t mean shit (much) anyway. Interesting answers. I didn’t realize that the SAT scale had changed. When I was a lad, the best you could do was 1600 ish. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/29 "2012-05-11T16:02:32Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Interesting answers. I didn’t realize that the SAT scale had changed. When I was a lad, the best you could do was 1600 ish. They added a writing component. Now, there are 3 separate scores which can sum to a maximum of 2400. The best you can do on the old quantitative and verbal sections is still 1600. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/30 "2012-05-11T16:05:05Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The GRE is weird because math scores are much inflated. Funny story… This is one of the main reasons why the GRE scale changed this past summer. Now, each section is scored on a scale from, I believe, 130-170. The math section was deliberately made more difficult to account for the skewing of scores toward 800 and one aim of the new scale is to ensure that more quantitative programs get information that is more granular. The scores are also more similar to the new GMAT and more venerable LSAT scales, further emphasizing that precollege scores shouldn’t be compared with pregraduate scores. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/31 "2012-05-11T18:36:47Z")
You can make yourself a social pariah by boasting about them at every conceivable opportunity . (1450 in 1989 BTW) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/32 "2012-05-12T05:19:21Z")
Man, all my achievements aren’t worth much: my SAT scores, my myriad merit badges, my hang-gliding certifications, making it to Eagle Scout, winning my college skateboard competition … and at my work people just care if I’m a nice guy. Crap–I should’ve worked on _that_. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/33 "2012-05-12T16:57:56Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Interesting answers. I didn’t realize that the SAT scale had changed. When I was a lad, the best you could do was 1600 ish. I’m not sure what my SAT score is, but my IQ test just came back negative. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/34 "2012-05-12T17:24:20Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I’m not sure what my SAT score is, but my IQ test just came back negative. Okay, this made me snicker some. Well done. > [@digs](#): > > Man, all my achievements aren’t worth much: my SAT scores, my myriad merit badges, my hang-gliding certifications, making it to Eagle Scout, winning my college skateboard competition … and at my work people just care if I’m a nice guy. > > Crap–I should’ve worked on _that_. Seriously I think too many people do not realize the insignificance of those early achievements to later life, at least not until much later. The early achievements are worth one thing and one thing only: to potentially open the door to the next opportunity. Okay, maybe not _open_ the door, but at least get your foot in enough to be able to make your case. No doubt it helps to have that opening, but if you make your sale and get your next opportunity your past merit badges are moot. Yup, longer term “plays nice with others” is a more accurate prognostic indicator of career success. Can you manage to both think critically and communicate effectively, convincingly? No? But your test scores are _amazing_? Then prepare to be someone whose future includes bragging on message boards about how high your test scores were. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TrisCarr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@TrisCarr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrisCarr)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/35 "2012-05-13T00:57:10Z")
I believe I heard something along the lines of Bill Gates using them for a sort of speed-dating method. He would question a womans SAT’s and if they weren’t as high as his, or higher; he wouldn’t date them. Maybe urban myth, maybe not. People are weird nowaday, wouldn’t doubt it if some did in fact use them as some sort of anti-ignorant way to date. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/36 "2012-05-13T14:59:24Z")
OK, I never considered Mensa to be more useless than I do now, after finding out that I would have qualified under my 10th grade score. Now, more than 20 years later, it’s clear that I was a good test taker (never took a prep course), not that I was necessarily any smarter than anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/37 "2012-05-13T17:00:45Z")
> [@Aestivalis](#): > > OK, I never considered Mensa to be more useless than I do now, after finding out that I would have qualified under my 10th grade score. Now, more than 20 years later, it’s clear that I was a good test taker (never took a prep course), not that I was necessarily any smarter than anyone else. Isn’t it great? They don’t care how much drugs or alcohol you’ve taken, the assumption is once you hit your peak you’ll never get any dummer. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/38 "2012-05-13T17:36:07Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Okay, this made me snicker some. Well done. I saw it on a t-shirt yesterday. I would have quoted it but it would have partially ruined the effect. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/39 "2012-05-13T17:48:20Z")
Don’t SAT scores expire after five years? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126/40 "2012-05-13T17:58:07Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Don’t SAT scores expire after five years? Maybe for colleges. Not for Mensa. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-sats-used-for-anything-other-than-college-university-admissions/619126.md?page=3)