test prep
act/sat
By Megan Dorsey
Standardized test scores can be confusing. Is a 26
a good score? How does a 1080 on the new SAT
compare to the old SAT? What score is good
enough? Unless you have spent considerable time
reading and researching current admissions trends
for standardized tests, the numbers can seem
overwhelming.
Typically students aren’t defining “good” based on their aca-
demic strengths and weaknesses, test taking experience, and
the averages at the colleges they are considering. Instead, there
is some mythical “good score” which seems to be a one size fits
none number.
• Rice University (TX) 750-780
• Harvard College (MA) 750-800
• NYU (NY) 650-780
• UCLA (CA) 600-760
• Auburn (AL) 560-660
• Queens University (NC) 510-590
• West Texas A&M (TX) 470-560
Here’s what I learned:
How to Measure Success M
y 680 (a top 10% score) is still going to place me in the
bottom quarter of admitted scores at Rice and Harvard. I
need to either retake the test or understand the odds are not
in my favor.
• The average scores at the colleges on your list M
y 680 puts me in the middle 50% at NYU and UCLA. I
may want to re-test to see if I can get a few more points, but
I know my scores are in the “realistic possibility” range here.
I always tell students there are two things you must
consider to determine if your scores are “good”:
• The improvement from where you started
A 680 on SAT math (out of a maximum of 800 points) is an
above average score. In fact, a 680 would put me in the top 10%
of test takers nation-wide. But I can’t declare victory (or defeat)
just yet. I need to personalize my analysis.
How does my 680 in SAT math compare at the colleges
on my list?
I used the college search feature on the College Board website to
get some quick numbers. Colleges report the range for the “mid-
dle 50%” which means 25% of admitted students scored higher
and 25% scored lower. This just gives me an idea if I’m close to
the range for each school.
Fall 2017
M
y 680 starts feeling like a good score when I look at
Auburn, Queens, and West Texas A&M. A 680 is in the top
quarter and I know my scores are good for these schools.
As you do this type of quick analysis, keep in mind that ACT and
SAT scores are only one part of the admissions puzzle.
Get the Facts
12 |
I found the middle half of admitted students had the
following scores:
Acknowledge Your Testing Potential
The second component in measuring scores is how a particular
number compares to your potential and past experience. This is
why one score can be disappointing for one student and incred-
ibly high for another. But too often we aren’t making realistic
comparisons.
www.potentialmagazine.com