Today’s SAT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought I'd bump and add on now that Aug SAT scores are out.

DD (Class of 26) thought the test was about the same as her first attempt back in the Spring, with the math portion being just a bit easier. But she felt more prepared (actually studied some and did two practice tests). Musta worked; raised the score 50 points and put herself in the highest category for merit at the SEC schools she's interested in.

Hope others had success too!

[For those looking for an Oct seat, there are still spaces in the RVA area -- I would recommend either the Mechanicsville or Tucker HS, as they have easy interstate access. Massaponax and Caroline Co HS also have seats and are closer to NoVA.]

Was poster 11:36 ( a few posts above ) incorrect in thinking Aug test was hardest? Did students find that the math section was hardest but today's results show they did better than they thought?

[Anonymous]

DD said it was exponentially more difficult than past SATs and more difficult than the practice tests.

[Anonymous]

I have twins who have both taken the SAT two times. The digital SAT is unique in that I think they pull different questions together to create a test. My twins, sitting in literally the same classroom, had different questions and different reading passages. So, your kids and other kids did not actually take the same tests in August. Also, some of the difficult questions may not have been "real" questions but questions they are testing out for future use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have twins who have both taken the SAT two times. The digital SAT is unique in that I think they pull different questions together to create a test. My twins, sitting in literally the same classroom, had different questions and different reading passages. So, your kids and other kids did not actually take the same tests in August. Also, some of the difficult questions may not have been "real" questions but questions they are testing out for future use.

This. Whether any given kid felt it was easy or hard is no longer a general data point, because the tests aren’t all the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thought I'd bump and add on now that Aug SAT scores are out.

DD (Class of 26) thought the test was about the same as her first attempt back in the Spring, with the math portion being just a bit easier. But she felt more prepared (actually studied some and did two practice tests). Musta worked; raised the score 50 points and put herself in the highest category for merit at the SEC schools she's interested in.

Hope others had success too!

[For those looking for an Oct seat, there are still spaces in the RVA area -- I would recommend either the Mechanicsville or Tucker HS, as they have easy interstate access. Massaponax and Caroline Co HS also have seats and are closer to NoVA.]

Was poster 11:36 ( a few posts above ) incorrect in thinking Aug test was hardest? Did students find that the math section was hardest but today's results show they did better than they thought?

I don't have any comparisons but DD's peers, some taking it for the 3rd or 4th time, thought the Aug 2025 version the most difficult they've taken. I'll listen more carefully to see if they spill the comparisons of their scores but it's generally of little concern to me/us. Our younger DC's friend group talks more about grades/scores/pay than older child's did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have twins who have both taken the SAT two times. The digital SAT is unique in that I think they pull different questions together to create a test. My twins, sitting in literally the same classroom, had different questions and different reading passages. So, your kids and other kids did not actually take the same tests in August. Also, some of the difficult questions may not have been "real" questions but questions they are testing out for future use.

This. Whether any given kid felt it was easy or hard is no longer a general data point, because the tests aren’t all the same.

True. And I'm not sure of if I'm a fan of the practice or not. I can understand why they do it that way (and certainly the digital version makes it much more possible) but it still seems less "equal." While it's possible on the math side (exact same question, just different numeric values), it has to be more difficult on the reading portion, as all words -- why they might be considered synonyms -- are not equal.

Glad it's over for us. DC is happy with score and is done.

[Anonymous]

DD thought the August SAT was the hardest by far but did better on math - 60 point improvement. Worse on English.

[Anonymous]

Here is the thread discussing results from August test

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1290575.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD thought the August SAT was the hardest by far but did better on math - 60 point improvement. Worse on English.

Same with mine. Math went up 70, verbal went down. And she’s not a math kid.

[Anonymous]

Of the handful of students.from whom we heard, September test was easier than August one. Why did they take it again this close to the Aug test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of the handful of students.from whom we heard, September test was easier than August one. Why did they take it again this close to the Aug test?

Each date/site uses 2-3 different tests so people aren't taking or reacting the same test even if they wrote it same time in the same site.

My DD took it today but she wasn't able to write it in August as she had a conflict.

I doubt it's the exact same crowd taking both. Some people were done in August. others are just getting started and this is their 1st ever test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of the handful of students.from whom we heard, September test was easier than August one. Why did they take it again this close to the Aug test?

Exactly what my DC said. And DC is taking it again in October.

[Anonymous]

Lock up this thread, Mr Mod

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have twins who have both taken the SAT two times. The digital SAT is unique in that I think they pull different questions together to create a test. My twins, sitting in literally the same classroom, had different questions and different reading passages. So, your kids and other kids did not actually take the same tests in August. Also, some of the difficult questions may not have been "real" questions but questions they are testing out for future use.

This. Whether any given kid felt it was easy or hard is no longer a general data point, because the tests aren’t all the same.

True. And I'm not sure of if I'm a fan of the practice or not. I can understand why they do it that way (and certainly the digital version makes it much more possible) but it still seems less "equal." While it's possible on the math side (exact same question, just different numeric values), it has to be more difficult on the reading portion, as all words -- why they might be considered synonyms -- are not equal.

Glad it's over for us. DC is happy with score and is done.

The reason why they do this (according to the guy from Applerouth) is that giving everyone the same test results in cheating on the test, so they need to scramble it up and give different combinations of questions so that basically the test administrator cannot just give the right answers to the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of the handful of students.from whom we heard, September test was easier than August one. Why did they take it again this close to the Aug test?

Because there is some inconsistency in difficulty of the digital test and tutors - or at least our tutor - is recommending retaking at least one or two more times in the next few months. Kid scored nearly two hundred points lower on August compared to practice test scores. And we are kicking ourselves for not having planned ahead to take September after hearing that some people felt their Sept version was easier than their Aug version.

It's a little hard to compare between students, because they don't all get the same questions, but in the aggregate it is apparent that a number of students felt that today's test was easier than what they personally faced in August. Additional caveats, sometimes perception isn't indicative of score and of course, at least theoretically, the standardization process should account for variance in difficulty. However, standardization of the digital product has seemed somewhat questionable.