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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In 1989 I got rejected from Yale, Princeton and Williams with a straight A average, 1390 SAT and at top prep school. So yes, it was tough then too.[/quote]

The SAT used a 2400 point scale in 1989 and that would be equivalent to a 1000 on the current sat

you’re not smart enough to create a believable lie[/quote]

Um I took it in 1988 and it was a 1600 scale[/quote]

And it didn't change to 2400 until 2005 dude[/quote]

Yup and the out of 1600 wasn't "normalized today's scores" until 1995.  Which means that you can add ~100-140 points to your 1988 score to compare with your kid's score today (makes us seem a bit smarter)
[/quote]

It's been re-normalized twice, so it might be even more than that.  All the "I only scored a 1400 and I got into Harvard, it's so much harder now" folks don't realize that a 1400 was 99+%.  You would have to score in the mid 1500's now to be equivalent.[/quote]

To be able to compare, you would have to compare percentile to percentile.  They aren't the same tests.  The SAT was originally calibrated to have an average score of 1000 a long time ago, but that was based on relatively few, well-prepared students applying to college.  By the 1980s, the number of students applying to college had grown greatly and the average had gone below 900, I believe.  In the 1990s it was re-normed to get it back to an average of about 1000 and it has been subsequently as well.

Top high school and college student may be studying more, but I have seen analysis showing current number of hours both for high school and college students is below 1960 levels.  For high school, number of hours was relatively low after WW2, rose substantially after the Sputnik wake up call and again during the 1980s after a period of decline.  For college, the number of hours studying on average is well below 1960s levels.

Average high school and college GPAs have been rising steadily for over 50 years.  High school grade inflation is particularly acute in relatively affluent public school districts.  Some colleges (for instance Brown) have very limited room to increase average GPAs as they are now in the 3.8 range.  In 1991 it was 3.38.  Harvard is probably in the same 3.8 range today.  In 1963 its average GPA was 2.7.[/quote]

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