I took the PSAT for the second time today and am happy to state that I am officially a number again! WOOOOO!

It tells nobody a single bit about me and how I think or how smart I am. Standardization is shit.

beat you again bo :-).

ahh, bo sox... sounds like whining from a "special thinker." Standardized tests say lots. Do they capture everything? No. But they aren't the only thing schools look at. If you didn't do so hot but you have something else to offer, its your job to get that across in your application.

YJ, I had a 1462 (2301 on 2400) last time and I actually studied this time, so my guess is that I'm at least 1500 on the 1600 scale. I didn't do badly but I hate the idea.

Hate the idea that a standardized test exists that can measure your ability to think in certain ways - a test that you did well on?

"I had a 1462 (2301 on 2400) last time"

I don't understand: 1462 + 800 = 2262 < 2301. You can't do better than a 800 on the writing section.

Super quick question... and please understand that this is only in fun... but how do you go from a 1462 to a 2301 when each section is only worth 800? That would appear to imply an 839 out of 800 on the writing:)

lol... dammit uclabb... you beat me to it.

bo must not have done well on the math section :-) :P

And those numbers, even if you disagree w/ them, are indeed important. This will already get you past the first stage of being a National Merit Scholar. There are many schools that give you full or large academic scholarships (guaranteed - NOT competition based) if you advance to National Merit Scholar Finalist.

FD... I was thinking the same thing... I demand justice - re-grade the math section of bo's PSAT.

I took the GRE and raped everybody's mother.

LG! It needs to be in caps. You should have done it this like:

bo wrongfully got a high math score on his PSAT!

I DEMAND JUSTICE

Ah, I see now... and that does seem more appropriate. I humbly apologize... I shall remember that for the next time. =)

"if you haven't been in school for 10+ years, don't tell me my individualized education doesn't matter because things are a hell of a lot different than they were in 2002. "

I have been in school, so this doesn't apply to me anyway, but I must point out the fallacy here. You seem to think you know enough about this level of education from 10 years ago, even though you didn't experience it. So why can't somebody who graduated then have kept up with how YOUR time is different?

Anyway, it's not really true that test scores tell nobody anything about you. It's true that if you scored as high as you say, then admissions counselors will probably underestimate how bad your reasoning is on places like webdip. But I tend to think of it as a sufficient-but-not-necessary type of thing. A smart person can do badly on an exam, but a less smart person is unlikely to knock it out of the park. So it's one more opportunity to convince people you're smart. If you don't do so well, then yes, you'll still to some extent have opportunities to convince them that you are and that they should look at other things.

2201, not 2301 to all you guys up there.. that's my keyboard's fault

Do the SATs really have non multiples of 10? I never got such numbers

According to my college counselor, yeah. That's the score I've got.

Otherwise, it might be weighted with something.. I don't know specifics of that part.

Obviously nobody agrees with me, as is typical of my philosophies.

You can check on line yourself at collegeboard.com if you want to confirm your scores.

bo_sox, if you don't care about the test or how it represents you, at least care about the national merit scholarship. Its like $10,000 a year or something? Idk, my girlfriend was a finalist so she gets the money.

I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to agree with bo. I assume it's obvious YOU shouldn't define yourself by a number, or even a collection of numbers. But do you really think the test score tells admissions counselors NOTHING about you?

Standardization is oft-maligned, but it's actually a substantial boon for good students who go to obscure schools. I suppose you have little appreciation for that, attending as you do the CornPrep School of the Midwest. But if you went to podunk high, there may be very few things in your admissions folder that could convince people you could hang in the big leagues, and the SAT is one of those things. I don't see how having that option is a bad thing.

1500 on a 1600 scale? Better start looking at those safety schools.

I do agree to a degree, I hate tests and don't do nearly as well on them as I do on tasks or regular assignments, because that's just not how my mind works. That said, I do understand why they are needed. There has to be some way to measure intelligence outside of grade point average because all schools are not equal in difficultly. Which can either make smarter students look dumb, or less qualified students look smart. The tests don't measure the same thing as GPA, and I'd argue that along with GPA they give colleges a more individualized picture of you then just one or the other.

On another note, I never had to take the SAT, just the ACT, is there any noticeable difference between the two?

I'm 98th percentile I want to say.. 78th in my school. We have smart people. Diplomat33 took it for the first time today and I'm sure he'll be telling you all abou how smart he is someday.

The ACT is generally testing your knowledge that you learned in a classroom while the SAT is more application.

I understand they are needed, but with the weight they have? I do well on them and I question it. I don't like to get somewhere without being qualified for it and I think those scores suggest I'm more qualified than some others might be, and yeah, I consider myself to be smart, but I'm not smarter than 98% of the country's juniors (I hope..).

The SAT is hardly an application of knowledge. The test is more an analysis of how you think and your use of logic and reason to analyze difficult problems. The level of knowledge required to take the SAT is minimal, it doesn't even include calculus or math beyond basic trig, but you need to have a high level of analytical reasoning to do well.

That being said, just think of it as a really hard gunboat game :)

"but I'm not smarter than 98% of the country's juniors (I hope..). "

From what I've seen you write on here, you probably are haha

Not around here then, gold. This area is urban sprawl white trash and/or really smart person place though. Maybe I am. I don't really know. I just don't like thinking of myself in a numerical ideology of that type...

The sooner you accept that you are the 1%, the sooner you can achieve greatness lol.

But I'd definitely hedge you in the top 10% though.