Psat/sat

[Jammer]

I just got my full score report. Here's my essay, which I must say is one of my worst pieces or writing. I got an 8 out of 12 on it. This is the only thing that I wish I studied a bit for.

This took me 17 minutes, by the way. 20 if you include the "THE END" thing. Which even I have to admit is pretty sweet.

EDIT: Also, in looking through my score report, I saw that I got one question wrong each in Critical Reading and Math, yet I got an 800 in reading and a 780 in math. Weird, huh?

 

[GoldShadow]

This took me 17 minutes, by the way. 20 if you include the "THE END" thing. Which even I have to admit is pretty sweet.

EDIT: Also, in looking through my score report, I saw that I got one question wrong each in Critical Reading and Math, yet I got an 800 in reading and a 780 in math. Weird, huh?

Although your essay is too long to read, that's a sweet "The End" at the end!

Also, it's not weird that you got one question wrong in CR and Math but got an 800 and a 780, respectively. Every time, the scoring is slightly different, depending on how everyone else did that took the test during that administration. They take your raw score (number correct-(.25)number wrong) and give you a scaled score (200-800) depending on how everyone else that took the test on the same day did. Sometimes, you might get 2 or 3 questions wrong and still have an 800; other times, you might get 1 wrong and get a 770.

 

[AltF4]

Don't put too much weight into standardized tests. Colleges don't. It's kind of a "minimum requirement" thing.

SAT's are structured far too similarly like IQ tests. We all know how those go...

 

[Zink]

Hmm. Jammer, I detected some weaknesses in your essay. For example, you spent a long time discussing the emergence of choices, but I felt that your followup, to show that choices lead to happiness, was weak. You mentioned the clotches thing, yet didn't cite a specific work of literature, only saying that several existed, leaving the credibility of this statement in doubt. Additionally, you did not sufficiently demonstrate that people living in agrarian cultures were less happy than modern workers- in fact, it is widely accepted that the corporate work enviroment is extremely stressfull and absorbs a lot of time and energy, making minor choices like clothing seem less important.
I dunno, I just tried to look at it from a grader's point of view.
GoldShadow, is that correct? I suspected that the questions were weighted differently, but I didn't think they were scaled based on other students' scores, graded on a curve, essentially.

 

[Jammer]

I know, Zink. My essay was quite bad.

I'm usually a pretty good writer, but when I'm doing school work, I usually just blank. I knew that if I let myself think too hard, I would get one sentence done before the 25 minutes was up (writing school papers is absolutely torturous for me). So, I read the task, and put down the first word after 10 seconds, and just kept going, and I didn't look back until I finished that pathetic excuse for a conclusion.

Writing essays like that is probably the hardest thing for me to do. I know my writing was horrible there (really, I think you might have seen that I'm a fairly good writer here on the Boards, and that I am normally able to get my point across eloquently).

To tell you the truth, I'm just happy I was able to get anything down at all.

I swear, if I can fix my problem where I just blank and lose all my ideas when I go to write something down (this mostly affects school work) my grades would go up 40%.

 

[Zink]

Ugh, I know, I feel like the more constraints are placed on my writing, the worse it gets. I hate prompts, as well. They are often so vague that it makes it hard to know what they want. I'm not about to go off and try something super creative and risky if all I want is a decent grade, either, so I don't like having unspecific constraints even worse than normal ones.
Oh, well. There's always the admissions essay, right?
post scriptum: that seems like not very much space for an essay, unless I'm seeing it wrong. What do they give you, a few of those sheets, or like a blue book?

 

[GoldShadow]

GoldShadow, is that correct? I suspected that the questions were weighted differently, but I didn't think they were scaled based on other students' scores, graded on a curve, essentially.

I am 100% positive.

Every question is worth the same; this is why it's a bad idea to spend a lot of time on a difficult question or a question you're unsure of when taking the SATs. Scaled scores are assigned according to raw score percentile ranges for a specific test date.

 

[Jammer]

post scriptum: that seems like not very much space for an essay, unless I'm seeing it wrong. What do they give you, a few of those sheets, or like a blue book?

First of all, "post scriptum"? Wow. I didn't think I would ever see that, even in formal letters.

We get two sheets (one side each). There's a box that you write in on each sheet that is about 75% of a normal piece of white printer paper (A4, I think is what I'm talking about). The lines are slightly wider than college-ruled paper.

No one ever goes over. In fact, I was talking to people and I seem to have written more than most people with 1 and a half pages. You only have 25 minutes, and about 5 is usually spent brainstorming and 5 proofreading (but that's just a total guess).

 

[Zink]

First of all, "post scriptum"? Wow. I didn't think I would ever see that, even in formal letters.

We get two sheets (one side each). There's a box that you write in on each sheet that is about 75% of a normal piece of white printer paper (A4, I think is what I'm talking about). The lines are slightly wider than college-ruled paper.

No one ever goes over. In fact, I was talking to people and I seem to have written more than most people with 1 and a half pages. You only have 25 minutes, and about 5 is usually spent brainstorming and 5 proofreading (but that's just a total guess).

Interesting. I guess I brainstorm less than most people. Or I write big. Either way... I suppose this isn't as structured as other essays, so I should be fine with short intro->body or two->short conclusion. Meh, seems kind of limited to me, especially considering the kind of rigorous essay requirements they have in, say, the AP tests.
Also, thanks, GoldShadow. I guess I should aim for a test date without the smarter half of my friends *think*.

 

[Knux]

Wow, some people here are really smart! (or just good test takers). I had taken the SAT in 7th grade, and I got a 550 in Math, 580 in Writing, and 670 in Reading, so a 1800 total. Would you guys say that's good for a 7th grader? I'm taking the SAT again in like February. What's kinda weird is that everyone says that Asians are like amazing at Math, but not as good at English/Reading, and most of my Asian friends are like that. But I'm like the complete opposite of that. I don't really think this is that important, just a comment.

 

[GoldShadow]

For a test that is meant for high school juniors and seniors, 1800 is an amazing score for a 7th grader. Not sure what grade you're in now, but unless you are a junior in HS, I'd recommend you not waste your time with the SAT.


The reason most Asians are good at science/math (and not English/reading) is their parents. Most Asian parents come from a time and place where there were two choices: advancing through education or working on a farm. That's why the ones who immigrated place such a high value on education; they feel that the only practical way to succeed in life is by getting the best scores in everything, and that the only practical fields are math and science. They also value certain talents, such as music. Seriously, like 75% (or more) of all Asians you meet in school (at least in the states) probably know how to play piano, or some other instrument.

Unfortunately, this strict parenting doesn't translate well in the modern western world. You don't need to score in the top x percent on standardized tests to get somewhere in life, you don't need to go into something math/science related to have a good job, life, and career. There are a ton of paths to choose, all of which can lead to happiness and a good living.

Of course, there are also a lot of Asian parents that are not like this; but that's the minority.

By the way, I'm not "Asian" (ie, east Asian)... I'm of south Asian descent. They're pretty similar too, in regard to education.

 

[omfgomfg]

goldshadow is correct
if you do that well in seventh grade, you'll surely get above 2000 when you are a junior in HS

 

[Deleted member]

I fall under the Asian category, and got my PSATs back this week...

59 in Reading, 76 in Math, 55 in Writing... 190 total...

x.x Epic failure in Reading and Writing, mostly because I hate doing reading questions anyway, and every question that had to do with "finding the most correct way to say this statement" that I narrowed to 2 choices I got wrong... and I could've had perfect in Math, had I read the question correctly and saw "odd" instead of "even" integers...

Of course, I can just take it again when I'm a junior before I take my SATs... SATs were hard enough when they were only out of 1600 lol...

Also, good info GoldShadow

 

[Knux]

Thanks for answering my questions, guys. I'm South Asian too, and I think one of the reasons why I'm kinda good at Reading/English is that I never really learned the language that my parents speak, and we always speak English at home. I've had more "experience" speaking English, than my other Asian friends.

You guys said that 1800 is like amazing for my age, but what's funny is that I know at least three kids that are the same age as me, who got higher than an 1800. But, then again, I think my school is pretty good...there are like forty kids who are doing 10th grade math right now, and a couple who are doing 12th grade math.

BTW, I'm a 8th grader right now. I don't really want to take the SAT again, but my parents want me to, so I'm taking it in February again. I'm kinda bummed about this, but it's not that bad.

 

[Cobalt]

I got my PSAT results from this year back earlier this week, and I got the exact same total score (selection index) as last year, with a 218.

However, my CR score dropped 3 points, my Math went up 2 points, and my Writing went up 1 point. Last year it was 76 CR, 70 M, 72 W, but this year it was 73 CR, 72 M, 73 W.

What's funny is that I found the PSAT harder than the SAT, for which I get my scores on Thursday.

 

[Cobalt]

Sorry about the 4-day bump, but with December SAT scores just released today, I feel it's relevant.

And HOLY CRAP I'm happy. I got 780 on Math, which means I got like one question wrong. My CR and Writing scores were both 690, though I got a surprisingly low 8 out of 12 on the essay. I thought I did better, but I've never been good at writing, so whatever. I'm probably going to focus on finishing out my SATs before the end of this, my junior year, so I can focus entirely on college applications and college preparation senior year.

That means I want to get a 750 CR score before the end of this year, and get around 700 on a couple subject tests (Math first, then Chemistry for now). Since I can take three subject tests in a day, here's how my testing schedule is probably going to look:

January SAT: SAT Reasoning Test
Goal: 750+ CR

February SAT: SAT Reasoning Test (if necessary)

March SAT: SAT Reasoning Test (if necessary)

April SAT: SAT Subject Tests: Math I, Math II, Chemistry

I'll then spend May and June improving anything I need to improve. I'll be in physics next year, so I can take the physics subject test by itself to act as another science subject test, since the colleges I'm aiming for want to see at least one each of a math and science subject test. I'm going for two maths because if I do really well on Math II, then it's another bonus for me, and if I don't, I can just report my Math I score, which I should do really well on. For science, I want to take the physics test, but I'm in chemistry now, so I want to be able to have something to fall back on.

EDIT: And my brother, a high school freshman, got his PSAT scores back. He got like a 28 CR, 31 Math, 25 writing. I lol'd.

 

[_umbra_]

I'm so happy, I just got a 2150 total on my third try . 690 Math, 730 Reading, 730 Writing. I did better than I ever could have hoped for. I sort of wish I got that 700 in math... but at least I'm done with this stupid test now.

Anyone else as happy as me to be done with the SAT?