>What's the SAT max now - is that 3 scores added or two? In my day ( we took the test on clay tablets in cunieform ) 1600 was a perfect score - 2 800s - and 1400 would pretty much get you a National Merit Scholarship. I heard that they dumbed down the test in the 80s or so (I think they wanted to boost everyone's self esteem) and average scores jumped 100 points on each half from one year to the next.

To be specific, at some point, they recentered the test, which resulted in averages about 100 points higher. They didn't make the test easier, but it's a scaled score, and they reworked the scale. It was always meant to have 1000 as an average score, and IIRC, that had slipped, so they recentered.

I do know that my kids are their friends did far better that Marshal and I and our friends, who I would have though were pretty bright. Of course, my kids' generation also had _lots_ more experience with standardized tests. But Solomon's graduating class of about 375 had something like a dozen kids with 1500 or over, including two 1600s.

Since my kids took the test, as you know, they've added a third section. The top score is now 2400, so 14xx is something like 9xx on the old test, no?


> (I'm pretty sure my SATs got me my 4 year full ride to a school that is about 35k a years now and certainly would have been otherwise out of my price range) Needless to say, I'm a big believer in standardized testing <g>
>

My SATs were pretty good, but I think my getting into Penn had a lot to do with being 15 when I graduated high school.

Tamar