# S.A.T. - Why can you make mistakes and still get a 1600? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559 "2003-01-19T00:26:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![censored](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@censored](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/censored)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/21 "2003-01-19T06:34:03Z")
**mcbiggins** , my California high school is nothing like what you describe. Anti-socialist? Wha? šŸ™‚ My US History textbooks stated that British troops in Canada invaded the US in response to US provocation/attacks/I donā€™t really remember right now. (My apologies if that didnā€™t happen - Iā€™m going off memory here.) Anywayā€¦ One wrong and one blank for a 750 sounds like either there was a hard curve or you arenā€™t remembering it correctly. Probably the curve. On a November 1995 test, one could receive a raw score of 76 (perfect is 78) to recieve a 800 in math, and a raw score of 60 (perfect) to recieve a 800 in verbal. These scores vary according to curve and the number of questions of each type (verbal/math); on a November 1996 test, a 73/78 was required for a math 800 and 59/60 for a verbal 800. On a November 2002 test, I recieved a 800 verbal with two wrong and zero omitted for a raw score of 76. Raw scores include the number wrong plus the number wrong multiplied by 0.25 and finally rounded off at the end. ---
**Author:** ![DaveW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DaveW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveW)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/22 "2003-01-19T07:13:24Z")
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if I could re-take the SATs, say, 19 years after I took 'em the first time around? Itā€™s not like Iā€™ve attended any college courses (yet). My half-brother beat my score, dangit, so now Iā€™ve gotta do something to get back in my dadā€™s good graces. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/23 "2003-01-19T09:19:17Z")
I got a 1600 on the SAT despite missing one problem on the English section. I still think my answer was better than the official answer though. ---
**Author:** ![crinklebat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@crinklebat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crinklebat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/24 "2003-01-19T09:21:27Z")
Iā€™m still bummed over weird SAT score-curvingā€¦I missed two verbals and got an 800, but missed only one math and got a 760. Hmm. Heh, not like Iā€™ll take it again, but I just donā€™t think that makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/25 "2003-01-19T13:25:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mcbiggins \* > **Ah, I still remember the one question I left blank on my English section. How is a 17 year old supposed to know what ā€œemunerationā€ is. I got home and it was nowhere to be found in any of the dictionaries in my home.** Looking around the web, it seems to be a form of remuneration, some even making it Ā®emunerationā€“which is how I would have attacked the SAT problem, finding which of the answers were related. On the net, there are a bunch of mispellings of enumeration, tooā€“but no emuneration at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559/26 "2003-01-19T14:10:07Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [Is it possible to score more than 800 on your SATs?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_385.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/s-a-t-why-can-you-make-mistakes-and-still-get-a-1600/149559.md?page=1)