posted
It took awhile to sort things out on collegeboard.com but...
I finally got my SAT scores back!!!!!
1380: 670 Math (89th percentile) 710 Verbal (96th percentile)
Not bad, I know, and I honestly am thrilled since I wasn't exactly in top form on the day of the test but still... Grrr, I wanted a 1400. The verbal score is great, though. That one I really just wanted to pass the 700 mark on. And the math is great considering the fact that I hate math with a passion. But still, couldn't I have an extra 20 points for ... oh, I don't know, taking the silly test in the first place?
posted
I don't know about that, Book. If you ask me, teachers and the like would make a heck of a lot more if the how-good-you-are idea worked for yearly salaries.
Posts: 1548 | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Nah, see, I was just voicing a stupid opinion that basically said that the number defined you, you don't define the number. I think it was sarcasm, but sometimes I get a few okay numbers, so I'm fine with those.
[ April 13, 2004, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: Book ]
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wish I had had a forum like this on which to brag about my standardized test scores back in the day.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm with you, U -- just not the same to be bragging about my SAT scores now that I'm 35 (though I did get... oh nevermind). Kinda depressingly telling about the life I've led since then, though. And I don't really want to base my worth on my income level, either.
Now I just brag about my wife and my kids. That's good enough for me.
And this chair, and this paddleball, and this remote control, and that's all I need!
posted
Also, I'm probably most proud of my LSAT score, but so few people take that test that it would be meaningless. Besides, after you actually get into law school, it's considered super tacky to mention your LSAT score.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Also, I'm probably most proud of my LSAT score, but so few people take that test that it would be meaningless. Besides, after you actually get into law school, it's considered super tacky to mention your LSAT score.
I know - isn't that annoying? Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It is, and yet I was always afraid that I would find those one or two people in my class who scored better than I did. It's probably better that scores not be mentioned in that setting. It's already competitive enough.
And kat, I am tempted, but I think I'd better not. For one thing, I'm almost certain that Dagonee beat me. That darn smiley makes me nervous.
posted
But I didn't get into Law school and I got... Oh wait, this is like the joke about that little girl who kept the other kids from seeing her underwear by now wearing any, isn't it?
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
*coaxes* If you want to, that shouldn't stop you. I personally didn't take the SAT, but Pixie didn't have a problem posting hers. And she did great! I'm so proud!
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wouldn't have had a problem posting scores if I were her, either. For one thing, she did great (Good job, Pixie!) and for another, she just took the test, so it's relevant.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Heh, dude, when your opening post declares that you wish you could brag about your standardized test scores, then goes on to insist, no, no, I really couldn't, no, it's just not right, I couldn't possibly share... You're already bragging, dude. I promise, if anyone's shallow enough to resent you for having high standardized scores -- and I doubt many will, given, as you said, most people here are in the top 2 percentiles as is -- they can do so from your already-existing posts.
There are so many better things to play coy with, why start with test scores?
Posts: 641 | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
If you could come up with a better word than "grrrrrr" to express your displeasure, you might have made it into the 97th percentile on the verbal.
Posts: 1794 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
But also, I'm serious. So much pressure is placed on students to do well on standardized tests. Then, so much emphasis is placed on those scores. If you do well, you are so thrilled, and for a while it seems to have such a huge impact on the direction your life will take.
Then, all too soon, it ceases to matter. Nobody cares what your scores were. You are judged on entirely different achievements or failures. Sometimes you really wish you could say, "Sure, I may not impress you now, but you should see what I scored on my ACT!" But you can't. And if you did, you would just be laughed at.
I guess this is in part a commentary on the role of standardized tests in our system. But it is also an observation on human nature, and on growing up.
So, for probably the final time in my life, I will say that I got a 176 on my LSAT. And then I promptly failed the bar exam on my first try.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
But seriously, what is a good score on the LSAT? I ask because my mind wanders towards law school more and more nowadays... I know that it's not something you can really prepare for, like the SAT's, the worst part of it is the excruciating length.
But just to prove that grades and numbers are totally meaningless, I got a 1440 on my SAT's and I am repeatedly humbled by people on these boards, often concerning things like misspelling "Texas" or "sea," or forgetting my own gender and not knowing how to check. To quote the movie Barcelona (which is good) from memory:
Greta: Your cousin must be very hard to score so high. Freddie: Well, he tests well.
[ April 13, 2004, 06:55 PM: Message edited by: Book ]
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The bar exams usually are very, very tough, right? I know they very from state to state (California has the worst, I believe), but they're usually extremely difficult, right?
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Bar exam is hard, but the study courses for it are very refined in most states. Studying for the bar is a separate step done after law school - no one graduates knowing everything needed for the bar.
posted
The difficulty of bar exams varies greatly. The questions themselves tend to be fairly tough, but what really matters is how they are graded. The body that administers the test determines beforehand about how many should pass the test, and the whole thing is then structured to meet that target. So what really matters is how the particular state approaches it, and how any particular test taker compares to all the others. In Nevada, where I took the test (twice) the pass rate is consistently between the high 50's and the low 60's. It is supposed to be one of the toughest (along with California, New York and others). Utah, however, (where I went to school) routinely passes up to 95% of those that take the bar exam, and there are other states that do the same.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have to take the GREs soon. *makes face* Not sure how I'll do one them...verbally I always do well, but math has always been a problem because of stupid mistakes. But now I'm on a stimulant for adhd...which could make a hell of a difference.
Hmmmm.
And pixie, complain about a 1380 again and I'm going to have to kick your ass by proxy.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
A really good score on the LSAT would be 120. With a score that low there would be absolutely no risk of ever becoming a lawyer.
Posts: 1794 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Correction. There would be no risk of getting into law school. But, IIRC, there are states where you don't have to have a law degree. You just have to be able to pass the bar exam. I think California is one of those states.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
OK, these guys are too modest to say it so I'll say it FOR them.
Anything above a 175 is a freakishly awesome score. If I had a 175, I would have made a T-shirt with a big red 175 on it. I would wear this shirt everyday, make my friends wear it, and perhaps distribute this t-shirt for free at homeless shelters.
I had a 166, good enough for public school, but not quite Ivy league.
In California, you can take the bar without going to an accredited law school. However, I think you will be subjected to an additional testing requirement: a baby bar that tests all the first year subjects.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wish Virginia was one of those states. I'd take the bar before third year and then really have some fun. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
In some states, while you do have to graduate from law school, you can take the bar exam early, before you actually graduate. A guy I used to work with did that here in Nevada last year. But you still have to graduate.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Mack, I took the gre back a couple weeks ago. If you know a little math you'll do fine. It seemed to me anyway that you had a lot more time than you do on the sat. Also since its all multiple choice you can always guess.
I don't think any of the math i've learned at college was even on the test.
the verbal section on the other hand was rough. There were questions where i'd never even seen or heard any of the words before.
So anyway my point was that you're smart and you'll do fine on it.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:In some states, while you do have to graduate from law school, you can take the bar exam early, before you actually graduate.
If either New York or New Jersey is one of those states I guess I owe Lisa S. Benjamin and Nina Combs an apology.
Posts: 1794 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
I haven't taken the SAT yet, I'm supposed to take it in July. I'm totally screwed over, too. Because I'm homeschooled, college admissions people go more by the SAT scores. Despite all my reading I've never been very good at the verbal stuff (heck, I only recognized about 5 words on the PSAT), and I'm not very fast with the math (the part I need to get really high scores on) so I can't answer all the questions, even though I get most of them right. Plus, I didn't need to take a math course this year, so I'm a bit rusty right now. And I didn't do so great on the PSATs, either.
posted
I got a 25 (of 32) on the ACT, which I was told would have been a 1250-1300 on the SAT.
I liked the ACT better, because it tests 4 areas of knowledge, and I'm not very good (read as horrible) at math.
I got a 31 of 32 in the social science area, a 98% (of 99%), and that is a rating of where you rank among those who take the test that year, not of how many you answered correct/incorrect.
And I now sell suits at JC Penneys, proving that it isn't how you score that matters, but what you do with it....
posted
I come from a wonderful land where there are no standardized tests to worry about and universities mysteriously accept people who never applied to their school.
That or there's someone who shares my name who's pretty pissed off that none of the schools he applied to accepted him.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
If you'd really like to get a better score, there's nothing to stop you from taking it again, is there? (Unless your deadlines have already passed....) I took it a second time - because I hadn't prepared for it at all the first time around - and I jumped 50 points, from a 1450 to a 1500. Furthermore, the jump was all in Math, since I'd gotten an 800 on Verbal the first time around as well. Since you have room to improve on your Verbal score as well, there's no reason why you can't improve your score by a significant amount if you find a book from the library which reviews SAT math, and perhaps look through a book which summarizes the various kinds of analogies....
Particularly since you say you weren't feeling your best on the day that you took the test, if you still have time before your deadlines for college applications, you might want to think about taking it again - SAT scores are one of the big determiners of scholarships and such. (You definitely did very well - but if you really feel you could do better, why not?)
Posts: 196 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sometimes I wonder what I'd have gotten if I'd taken the SATs... I took the ACTs instead, and depending on where you are, people just give you a blank look when you say your score. ACT always seemed like SATlite to me....
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Not really, as it tests more areas of knowledge. Only the top third of all hig school student take the ACT, so if you score well percentage-wise, it isn't against all students (almost everone takes the SAT) but the best ones, on average.
The ACT is huge in the Midwest, or it was way back in 1988...oops, now I am dating myself!
posted
Bush got a 1250 on his SAT's. Considering his occupation, that's not bad at all. You can live with a 1380.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You're kidding. I don't expect much out of the man, but only a 1250? And he got into Yale?
But yeah, look at the man's occupation. With your scores and a CIA Director daddy, you can be President, too!
Posts: 641 | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Do it now. It's okay.
![[The Wave]](graemlins/thewave.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Embarrassed]](redface.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
I'm totally screwed over, too. Because I'm homeschooled, college admissions people go more by the SAT scores. Despite all my reading I've never been very good at the verbal stuff (heck, I only recognized about 5 words on the PSAT), and I'm not very fast with the math (the part I need to get really high scores on) so I can't answer all the questions, even though I get most of them right. Plus, I didn't need to take a math course this year, so I'm a bit rusty right now. And I didn't do so great on the PSATs, either. ![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
