Earlier last month, students could finally access their anxiously awaited SAT scores, which — judging from reactions across social media — were lamentable.
As Twitter user @Peachhoran put it, “I GOT MY SAT SCORES BACK AND IM READY TO JUMP INTO AN OCEAN FILLED WITH HUNGRY SHARKS SINCE I’VE NO FUTURE WHATSOEVER.”
In order to get a perfect score of 2,400, students would have had to have gotten an 800 on each of the three parts — critical reading, math, and writing — of the SAT. Last year, about 1.6 million students took the SAT, averaging a 496 in reading, 514 in math, and 488 in writing, for a composite score of 1,498.
This recent batch of test results are separate from what the College Board found to be the class of 2014’s average scores, which were also distressing. If Cyndie Schmeiser, the College Board’s chief of assessment, were to describe them, she told the Huffington Post that “flat and stagnant would be the words that we would use.”
The 1.67 million students in the class of 2014 averaged a 497 in reading, 513 in math and 487 in writing for a composite score of 1,497 — just one point worse than the class of 2013. These results also showed that only 42.6% of the class of 2014 had scores of 1550 or higher, meaning less than half of them were ready for college.
Though these averages did not include the most recent batch of results, and though the data is not quite yet available, students didn’t seem to do too well judging from the reaction on Twitter. As @Laynababy22, tweeted, “Got my SAT score back and it’s official, I’m stupid :-)”
Last March, the College Board announced plans to change the SAT’s format in an effort to curb the academic stagnation. The college preparatory exam will return to a 1,600-point scale, stop deducting points for wrong answers, and will focus on material closer to what students actually study in school.
However, the new format will roll out in 2016, which means that for now, students will still have to deal with the 2,400-point scale and older format.