U.S. College Entrance Exams - Facts and Fiction Quiz

Answer: 1600

The SAT I consisted of two portions, verbal and math. The highest possible score on each section was 800.

Answer: False

The current method of scoring the SAT allows a student to miss a small number of questions and still receive a 'perfect' score.

Answer: Some answer sheets were quarantined in New Jersey post offices for anthrax testing

The PSAT is only offered in October of each year unlike the SAT which is administered multiple times.

Answer: To get college credit for work done in high school

AP exams are offered by the Educational Testing Service in many subject areas and many universities give credit for strong performance on them. The PSAT is a general scholastic aptitude test. PSAT scores are generally not reported to colleges.

Answer: To give girls a better chance for qualifying as National Merit Semifinalists

Boys have traditionally received a disproportionately high percentage of National Merit Semifinalist designations because they tend to score higher than girls in the Math section of the PSAT. Girls tend to be stronger in writing than boys. A test with a verbal, writing, and math section was deemed to give girls a better chance of becoming National Merit Semifinalists than a test with only a verbal and math section.

Answer: False

Roughly 1/2 of 1% of the juniors in each state are named National Merit Semifinalists based on their scores on the PSAT. The cutoff score is different for each state each year. A score that would qualify a student for National Merit Semifinalist status in one state would not be sufficient in another.

Answer: 36

The ACT focuses more on mastery of high school course content than the SAT. The ACT is usually taken by students in the Midwest. The SAT is the test of choice for students in the northeast, east and west coasts.

Answer: Writing

The four sections of the ACT are English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science Reasoning.

Answer: False

The average score for SAT II subject tests varies from subject to subject. In 2001 the some mean scores for the SAT II subject tests were as follows: Writing 595, Math IIC 663, United State History 583, World History 573, Biology 602, Chemistry 608, Physics 640, Chinese 748, French 604, Latin 595, and Spanish 595. Most students do not take SAT II subject tests and the these tests are normally only required or recommended by highly competitive colleges.

The average score for the standard SAT I test still hovers around 500 for both the Math and Verbal sections.

Answer: A Writing section was added

The former SAT Verbal Exam became the SAT Critical Reading Exam. This test no longer includes analogies. Instead, short reading sections were added to existing long reading passages. A new section called the SAT Writing Exam was added. This section contains multiple choice grammar questions as well as a written essay.

The SAT Math Exam was expanded to cover three years of high school math. Instead of just covering concepts from Geometry and Algebra I, the new SAT Math Exam contains concepts from Geometry, Algebra I, and Algebra II.