I came, I saw, I kicked ass and chewed bubble gum.


Blue Protoman

Blue Protoman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Messages
4,117
Today I took the SAT test. And it went very well; all that prep paid off! Now I just need to await confirmation that I kicked ass, which should take about three weeks. (Or, a score report, if you're not cocky like I am.)
 
Kaepora Gaebora said:
SATs are based on an overall score of 2400 now right? Not the old 1600. How is the new section?
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You mean the joke essay section that nobody looks at? I remember taking it. It's just an essay; not too hard if you're good with words. The problem with essay response overall in academia is that you can't really grade it. If you can come up with a discrete formula by which everyone will come up with the same grade, I will consider essay response a legitimate examination paradigm. Until then... pish!


I sailed through the SATs with flying colours on every mast. The essay section was my highest; I was angry. I was glad I did well, but what a waste of my highest score.
 
Do colleges and universities take SAT scores into account during the acceptance process? When I had been entering college, SAT scores were neglected or weighted fairly low.
 
Kaepora Gaebora said:
SATs are based on an overall score of 2400 now right? Not the old 1600. How is the new section?
Click to expand...

The writing? Easy. Stupidly easy. (To be fair, I did do a lot of prep, but this was probably what I prepped for least.) As for the essay, a bit more challenging; the real difficulty comes in time allotted (or lack thereof); 25 minutes for an intro, two bodies, and a conclusion. You have to answer a question that's typically controversial. (Today's was something like, "Do great accomplishments bring new challenges?") You're never wrong, but you have to prove that you're right. The essay graders literally only read each one for about three minutes a pop (and a study shows that those who wrote the most on the essay got the best scores).

You mean the joke essay section that nobody looks at? I remember taking it. It's just an essay; not too hard if you're good with words. The problem with essay response overall in academia is that you can't really grade it. If you can come up with a discrete formula by which everyone will come up with the same grade, I will consider essay response a legitimate examination paradigm. Until then... pish!
Click to expand...

The essay came from criticisms regarding the lack of one. I dunno about other colleges, but the one I have my sights set on (Stony Brook) doesn't look at it (or the writing section in general) too much. So long as you don't blow it off, you're good.

Do colleges and universities take SAT scores into account during the acceptance process? When I had been entering college, SAT scores were neglected or weighted fairly low.
Click to expand...
They use scores mainly to weed out those who really aren't dedicated to academics. You don't have time to look at all of your applicant's backgrounds in detail; are you gonna pick a guy to look at with 700's or a guy with 300's? (Each of the three sections is scored from 200 to 800 points, with all totals being multiples of 10.)
 
Blue Protoman said:
Today I took the SAT test. And it went very well; all that prep paid off! Now I just need to await confirmation that I kicked ass, which should take about three weeks. (Or, a score report, if you're not cocky like I am.)
Click to expand...

Congrats! I hope you did as well as you feel you did.
 
We'll find out in July. I wanna start looking at the ACTs and the SAT Subject Tests. I hear they're not too bad.
 
Come to think of it, my last name was too long to fit on the official records (It was shortened to "Talavera-Greenb"), so there may actually be some questions about my name at CollegeBoard HQ, heh.
 
Blue Protoman said:
We'll find out in July. I wanna start looking at the ACTs and the SAT Subject Tests. I hear they're not too bad.
Click to expand...

Never took the ACT, but I felt the SAT IIs were pretty easy when I took them many, many moons ago. I'm sure you'll do fine.
 
The ACTs are the same in concept as the SATs, but not in execution. The questions are pretty ordinary (and easy) high school affair. The kicker is the sheer amount of them; 75 English questions in 45 minutes (!!), for example. You have to work quickly. The essay is optional, but recommended (depends on your college of choice). The essay's easier, too. The prompt is more specific, but you're given more time (30 minutes against the SAT's 25) and you don't have to try and pull a book or historical event out of your ass to justify your logic; just be detailed and organized.
 
Blue Protoman said:
Come to think of it, my last name was too long to fit on the official records (It was shortened to "Talavera-Greenb"), so there may actually be some questions about my name at CollegeBoard HQ, heh.
Click to expand...

Hah. I know it's not only me because my name is a common one, but you reminded me of how my school and hospital records always listed me as CHRISTOPHE because the software couldn't handle more than 10 letters.
 
Kaepora Gaebora said:
200 points for writing your name!
Click to expand...

Blue Protoman said:
600, actually. That's the minimum total score.
Click to expand...

Technically the minimum score is 0. You start off with 200, are awarded points for correct answers and deducted (fewer) points for wrong answers. Answer every single question wrong, and that 200 drops to 0. Officially, scores below 200 are discarded: it's basically treated as if the person chose to withdraw from the testing. That's why you don't see anyone with actual scores below 200. I'm not certain how that applies overall though. If you get 500 in one section and then do completely bad in the other one (or two, as the case may now be) that you get 0 in them, for a total score of 500, do they discard your score because you did so poorly on the other sections or do you keep because you did reasonably well on the one you did do?


edit: Oh yeah! Derp me! Congratulations, by the way. :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
hello


the "SAT test" is sort of final exam after high school in the US educative system ?


and congrats of course, if you did well :)


Kisses


Mac
 
macsimus said:
hello


the "SAT test" is sort of final exam after high school in the US educative system ?


and congrats of course, if you did well :)


Kisses


Mac
Click to expand...

You're on the right track. It's a test that measures your reasoning and academic abilities. You can take it any time in high school, but it has to be before you send out your college applications midway through your senior year. It's not administered by any sort of government institution, it's all done by a third-party corporation (we can argue about corporate rule another time). The test (along with the ACT) is used to get your foot in the door, in regards to college applications. Other things (like grades and extracurricular activities) matter as well. Ultimately it depends on the school. The vast (vast) majority of colleges do require that you take the SATs, though. How much it (and its individual sections) matter depends on the college. You don't "pass" or "fail" the test (though you CAN do "well" or "poorly" on it).
 
ok


thanks for the information, strange there is nothing like a national final exam taken at the same time by all students at the end of the final year.. mm well perhaps not so strange actually, just different of what we have in France ;)


Big Kisses


Mac
 
It's not just at the end of the year, it's any time they offer a test. I could've taken the one in March if I wanted to, or the one this October.
 
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