The difficulty of the SAT’s??

I can’t find the exact statistics online, but to give an idea of how many people get what score, I can give you the national percentiles on the sections from my previous scores each of the 4 times I took it:

1 Math: 550 59th percentile (I was in 8th grade when I first took it, so… bad score), 2 Math: 650 85th, 3 Math: 660 87th, 4 Math: 690 92th (I should have studied math more.)

1 Verbal: 710 96th, 2 Verbal: 690 94th, 3 Critical reading: 760 98th, 3 Writing: 700 96th, 4 Critical reading: 800 99th, 4 Writing: 780

The percentiles mean I did better than that percent of the people who took the test on that date. To get a 2200, you’d need about 730 in each section, so only about the top 4 percent of people get in that score range, maybe fewer. However, if you’re really good at one thing, you can make up for other weaknesses. I got 2270 with only a 690 in math because I had 800 and 780 on the other two sections.

It is possible! If you’re smart, and you PRACTICE like crazy, you can do well.

You may want to take the ACT as well, it’s up to you. Many people are naturally better at one or the other, so you should take it to see how you do, and to see on which you can score better. It depends on what you’re good at. I think it’s a little easier to get a perfect score on the ACT. More have people done it. But it’s also harder to improve your score, I think. A 31 out of 36 is in the 98th percentile, and a 32 in the 99th. My highest score was a 35.

Good luck!

As from my view, the topics for the SAT, specially the Math Section ARE A PIECE OF CAKE. However, questions are tricky and you are penalized if you guess (-1/4). What is more, international students have more problems with the SAT because it is not a very common way of evaluation in other countries… if you look at the average in the US, UK or Europe is MUCH higher than those in Latin America and Africa… mainly because the education is different…

I don’t know the how many people get this score .. but it is a VERY GOOD score… try looking in collegeboard.com.

With study and PRACTICE you can score high on the SAT, i don’t know if that high, but good anyway…

Regarding the ACT, what i have read is that the SAT tests aptitude while the ACT tests knowledge… take both if you don’t know which to take….

Hope it helps..

Good Luck..

The first time you take the SAT’s you will learn that it is a long test, and you need to pace yourself correctly. To score in the 2200-2300 range you need to really care about what you are reading in the reading passages. You need to actually try to learn the passage, so answering the questions will not be difficult, nor time consuming for you. The math portion is where you should really concentrate on the big picture, as they write questions that are easy at times, but make it look difficult. Just take a step by when you are stuck, and think, what am I trying to solve here. Generally, less than 8% of test takes will score as high as a 2300, it is a challenge, but if you practice taking the test with SAT books and clock management, it should ease the struggle. Tutoring is another option, I did not choose that path, but I still managed to get a high score. It can be costly to get a tutor, as high as 3000 dollars. As far as the ACT goes, it’s not for everybody. Generally people who do poorly on the SAT will find the ACT easier. The ACT has science, which can be difficult if you do not remember your freshman year Biology.

Best of luck my friend. If this is about your path to college, don’t worry, Harvard and Yale don’t always look at numbers on a transcript.

It is VERY difficult to score above a 2200 because you have to get over a 733 per section, which means getting only a few questions wrong per section.

You have to absolutely be naturally smart, and you need to prepare a lot, by doing practice tests, getting familiar with the layout, and just plain old reading to increase your vocabulary.

Don’t know much about the ACT’s, but they aren’t really any easier/harder.

Now, I could be wrong but isn’t a 1600 the best score you can get on the SAT. I believe it is. I’ve never heard of anybody getting a 2200.