Perfect or near-perfect (99th percentile) SAT scorers - what do they end up doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Such an odd question.

Some 1600 kids go on to create the most valuable companies in the world...i.e., Mark Zuckerberg who scored a 1600.

Others live an average existence.

There was a study done several years back trying to determine what is the minimal level of intelligence to achieve essentially anything in life...they basically said a 1200+ SAT is the dividing line.

That anyone that scores this SAT score has the ability to become a Nobel Prize winner, billionaire, etc...it all comes down to interests and hard work at that point.

Supposedly the average IQ of successful entrepreneurs across all industries is 120 to 125...which translates into an SAT score of 1160 - 1230.

This. Once you're smart enough, IQ ceases to be the constraining variable and what matters are your EQ, your executive function skills, and your motor.

[Anonymous]

Bill Clinton score around 1040 and George W 1200. Obama had an ACT of around 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People think about the SAT too much. After you get accepted to a college....the end.

My junior has been asked SAT (math and erbw asked separately) on well-paid, selective summer intern applications this year and last year, as well as unweighted HS GPA and of course has to send a transcript from college.

My DS has a selective summer internship and has never been asked his HS GPA. He had a great SAT score but has never really been asked. Also, his college GPA is mediocre but he is great at skill assessments.

[Anonymous]

DH scored 1600, i got 1510 back in early 90s. both surgeons - he makes more but works longer hours. i think we're pretty normal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a 1600 in 2003. I got a degree in computer science from a state school and teach middle school math.

Sibling had a 1580 in 2004. Got a degree in economics from a different state school and teaches high school social studies.

Bums

Thank you to you and your sibling! My kids go to a public school and have had some really dedicated, impressive teachers (especially in middle and high school) who could be doing something else. Those teachers made & continue to make a positive impact on thousands of young lives!

[Anonymous]

My brother -
Aced SAT (1600)
Scholarship to Caltech where he majored in math and interned at JPL
Graduated early from Caltech
Went into Peace Corp and since has worked as a software developer - successful, but mundane existence.

[Anonymous]

AnonymousI am pretty normal in most respects, but extremely efficient, so I am a high performer at work while working much less hard than others/having plenty of time for life tasks. [/quote wrote:

This basically describes me. 1600 in the late 90s. I'm a fed because I value work/life balance and the stability of the job (eep).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious, and don't mean to be snarky, but are those folks with perfect 1600 just have that analytical brain and subsequent thought process to ace the SAT?

Therefore, how are you socially ? Awkward? Social anxiety? Introverted? Work best when you're alone ?

No?

Not sure why being smart and quick thinking on your feet would cause social anxiety or introversion?

EQ is a range but your assumptions are odd

PP was just noting that most of us went to school with some nerdy kids, and those are the ones that we expected to do well on the SATs (and they usually did). It's a stereotype, but they are nerds for being socially awkward, etc. We have all seen it. That is why we are always so impressed with an athlete or charismatic kids that gets a near perfect score. They are an anomaly.

We had three 1600s in the late 1990s in our school (not all the same grade but all while I was a student there). I would say they all are pretty socially normal. It’s worth noting only one of them was a straight A student—the others were good students but got a mix of As and Bs in AP level classes… maybe this is because it was the late 1990s when there was less “prepping” and these kids were just good test takers since day one?

[Anonymous]

My brother had a perfect score. He got an econ degree and an MBA.

Now he's one of those private equity guys who drives brands we love into the ground.

[Anonymous]

Scored 1530 back in the late 80's. Went to a SUNY bounced around a bit then went to a solid if unspectacular grad school. Took a step back during Covid when the ADHD got a bit challenging to manage working remotely. Still work in tech though with better work life balance. Still make a million per year give or take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of high scorers go on to live “mundane” professional lives and plenty of more modest scorers go on to live exemplary professional lives. Please stop starting threads like this. A 99th percentile SAT is not a guarantee of professional success.

Signed parent of DC who scored in the 99th percentile.

Yes. There's a correlation that might be interesting to researchers looking at a large population, but it's not particularly useful for any one person. Sure, it helps to be smart for a lot of jobs - I doubt there are few if any PhD computer scientists who got a 500 on the math SAT - but the outcomes for the group of people who were smart in HS vs those who were brilliant are going to overlap a lot.

- 99th percent test taker who works in an unremarkable but somewhat intellectually demanding government job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bill Clinton score around 1040 and George W 1200. Obama had an ACT of around 30.

Those aren't real. Also, who the hell cares?

https://www.powerfulprep.com/celebrity-sat-act-scores/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bill Clinton score around 1040 and George W 1200. Obama had an ACT of around 30.

How do you know this?

[Anonymous]

I was told I had the highest score in my state. It wasn’t a 1600 but those were really rare in the 80s. With the reforming of the scores in the 90s, it would have been over 1600. I went to a top college, did well, got almost perfect scores on the lsat and gre, got into the top law school plus some top grad programs. Did pretty well on law school. I’m a lawyer but not super successful, in part due to mommy tracking and that I’m just not that ambitious and very risk averse. I think I’m a pretty normal person socially but have wicked ADHD.

I am a quick study with things which I think correlates well to sat scoring. I am not a deep philosopher.

[Anonymous]

On politicians I think Schumer got a 1600 so we aren’t strictly ruled by low SAT people. We don’t have to perpetuate that stereotype.