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Hello, does anyone know if the October administration of the SAT I is easier/harder than any of the others statistically?

Thanks

By zubek on Tuesday, October 01, 2002 - 02:23 am: Edit

The October test is widely rumored to be harder than other administrations; however, I doubt there is any conclusive statistical evidence.

By Worried on Tuesday, October 01, 2002 - 07:20 am: Edit

So, if I want a higher score, then there's a chance I probably won't get it? Why would it be tougher during October, shouldn't ETS make it all fair?

By Rhonda on Tuesday, October 01, 2002 - 10:23 am: Edit

The rumours about ease/difficulty of different testing dates are just that -- rumours. On the collegeboard website, they explain their equating system which they use specifically to ensure that colleges can compare scores from tests taken on diff dates and feel comfortable that those scores are in fact comparable. I won't be able to find this on the CB website, which is quite user-unfriendly, but if you're interested you should be able to hunt it down (try searching for "equating")

By sgandhi on Wednesday, October 02, 2002 - 09:15 pm: Edit

Some people may believe that different administrations of the SAT are easier/harder because of luck. For example, if on one administration, I like the reading passages (however unlikely that may be), I may think the questions are easier because of that interest. In addition, if the Math section hits certain math topics that are my specialty (again, however unlikely that may be), I may believe that the questions are easier. Statistically, all SAT administrations are equal, but they may not be because of the circumstances I have described above.

By HiLoGoGo on Sunday, October 13, 2002 - 07:51 am: Edit

I heard that if they weren't equal, they would re-scale and recenter the scale to make the scores "fair" and "comparable", is that right?

By sgandhi on Monday, October 14, 2002 - 09:35 pm: Edit

That statement is partially correct. ETS recognizes that each SAT administration has different questions, so the distribution of test scores is slightly different. However, through a process called "equating", ETS is able to successfully scale each test so the scores from different tests are comparable.