Didn't take it. Did pretty piss-poor on the GRE though.

@bo wow 32 is good! What advice do you give?

Dunno what that shit is, but I was 4th best mathematician in the country at age 14

I'm pretty sure you mean in your age bracket, SY.

Congratulations SYnapse. No one cares.

My advice is to not take the test because it's a load of bullshit.

31

I've heard the ACT are a lot less bs than the SAT.

Nah, at age 14 SYnapse was 4th best in the Congo. They eat mathematicians down there.

I took the old SAT, not the ACT. According to this internet conversion chart I've never seen before, I scored the equivalent of an ACT 33. http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/lccounseling/sat-act_conversion_chart.htm

Yeah I meant in my year.

The ACT is better than the SAT, Abge, but neither are an actual base for judging knowledge. Many colleges - all but one I applied to (Princeton) - are going test optional and actually judging a person versus their scores, which they understand aren't telling of who a person is and what they believe in. Obviously, larger schools can't do that as easily so they are still necessary.

I'm with you all the way when it comes to the problems of standardized tests. In my opinion, they should only be used for binary decisions. Pick a minimum score. Anyone above that will be judged based on their other merits, ignoring his much higher they actually scored.

*how much

I took both, but I believe scoring has changed since the early 80s. I know it has on SATs. I believe it was a 32 composite with a 35 Math (always was my best subject), though I'd have to dig into the attic to find it at home (with a lot of other things my mom saved and from my childhood).

We should ask theyounggeneral

34 composite. I took the SAT as an 8th grader and got something like a 1350. Younger me could house the fuck out of a standardized test. So, yay, I guess. It's not like these tests really measure anything of significance, they're basically just ways of allowing people to not think about their jobs.

I only applied to colleges in the Northeast, so none of them cared about (or even accepted) the ACT. SAT 1520.

My calculus teacher called me out in front of the whole class, asking, "Mr. Hecks, how is it you scored a 720 on the math portion of your SATs, but you're getting a C- in my class?"

I answered, "I'm not sure... maybe it's because I don't bother to do the homework and just skate by on the exams?"

He was not amused.

@hecks yeah that probably was not the best thing to say haha

I didn't care. I already had my credits and college acceptance letters.

Besides, if you're a high school teacher and you ask a wiseass question, you'd better expect a wiseass answer.

Good job, hecks.

A few years back, my history teacher, who I dearly hated (so glad he's gone), asked something like "What did they shoot into wounded soldiers during World War II to help make the pain go away?"

From the back of the room I shouted out "Gunpowder!"

He, like your teacher, was also not amused.

Same could be said of college. I didn't do last weeks assignment because I already have a C in the class and I didn't feel like taking time out of a busy holiday schedule to find someone who did something I had no interest in and interview them as to why they did it. It's disrespectful to the person being interviewed as they are busy too and it was only 3% of my grade. I have a C in even if I do nothing else the rest of the session and just get 50% on the final. When the professor asked me if I cared about the class, I laid it out to her and followed it up with a "So, no, I don't care about any one specific class or assignment. Only getting at least a C and graduating some day." Funny how going back to school for the hell of it is much less stressful. Telling your professor, who makes less than you, that you are doing this for the fun of it and the sense of "I did it!", not because you are trying to escape a dead-end job is definitely a freeing experience.

I see your interest in college ended quickly.

Also, if you were in my class I would have so much fun raking you across the coals.

Except it's an online class so no raking to be done. And yes, I lost interest when I lost my ride. My new employer doesn't do tuition reimbursement and my new position was what I was looking to get the degree and be promoted to anyhow. So the C is required to get my final reimbursement check from my old employer but then I am dropping school and just taking the occasional class. No longer on the 2 year plan, but the 20 year plan. :-)

Nothing like the fun and sense of "I did it!" in getting a C and dropping school.

At age 50-ish.

Draug: 2 kool 4 skool

34 ACT, 2360 on the new SAT.

@Peterwiggin,
New SAT? 2360? Out of what?
My 1520 was back in the old days when it was out of a possible 1600, I'll have you all know.