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What are the Scoring Factors for the SAT?

By Jon Harwokey

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Published: 17Jul2010
Word count: 552
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Each and every year, high school seniors all over the country are asked the same questions over and over again. What schools have you applied to? Have you gotten in anywhere? And how about those SAT scores? The mere thought of it all sends me back more years than I care to admit. Right back into the stress of picking the right school, or rather, the right school picking me. I can remember my mom talking about the SATs as if this test would single handedly define my life as a young man. And though I had very little understanding of about the scoring factors involved with the SATs, I quickly began to believe her.

But even with my mother's hearty fear instilled in me, I went into my first SAT test largely blind. I had no idea how I was to be tested, or really even what I was to be tested on. This may or may not have factored into my decision to take the test more than once. I can't remember my final score, but I know it was significantly lower than 1500, which today is considered an average score out of 2400 total points. The overall scoring factors for the test are spread over three basic categories, including math, critical reading, and writing. But the final tally gets much more complicated than that. This is certainly something I wish that I'd known when I was in high school.

The first factor that plays into scoring the SAT is what the test writers refer to as the raw score. Ultimately, the raw score will calculate how well a test taker answered the multiple choice questions. And contrary to the advice of my older brother—which I didn't follow—it is not a good idea to go through the test, answering all the multiple choice questions at random. In fact, the test writers have implemented a scoring factor that accounts for such a strategy. Answer a multiple choice question correctly and you get one point. Answer one wrong and you get zero points. But every time you answer a multiple choice question wrong, it costs you an extra fourth of a point. Thusly, the SAT's strategy for foiling the random answer bandits who try to cut corners through the test by mixing in a smattering of A's with a few B's, C's, and D's here and there. Now this is something my brother would have loved to know.

The second scoring factor that comes into play is the scaled score, which essentially casts all the scores from a given year in the same light, providing a common scale in the multiple choice categories. The scaled score allows colleges to compare and contrast test scores of every student who takes the SAT, regardless of when and where they took the test. But that is hardly the full picture. The final factor in determining the SAT score is the essay portion; and this is particularly important as it can account for up to one third of the final score. Once all of these things are factored in, you've got a complete SAT score. Then all that's left to do is sit back, hope for something between a 1500 and 2400, and wait for those acceptance letters to start rolling in.

Jon Harwokey, computer programmer located in San Diego, graduated with a degree in computer science from USC. Due to his high Max score, he was able to apply to and get accepted to the school of his choice. Without the SAT practice tests, Jon would have not so prepared.

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