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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
