Postby lp » Mon Sep 21, 2015 4:25 am
@ Dinstruction: Regarding percentiles: I don't see any listed for the 2015 practice exam in the booklet; only for the 2005. It all depends on the scaling they use for your particular version of the test. The 2005 booklet shows that the same raw score could end up something like 50 scaled points higher if the test version is much harder. I felt like I got a tougher version (perhaps they're all that hard now), so I'm hoping for a boost from the scale factor. Also, mine was dated 2011, and it was definitely harder than the one they just released from 2012, so should be some upscale. The percentiles are based on some "recent" time period and of course depend on how everyone else does, so yes, I would assume there's some variance for sure, but perhaps more so when looking at scores from say over 10 years ago.
I'm banking on admission committees nowadays knowing that the test is way harder than it's ever been, especially compared to when most of the people deciding on our applications were going to school! So a 700 today is like a 900 years ago, right? But, how quickly those facts are forgotten.
BTW, what do you all consider a decent scaled score? Not for a top school or anything, just where you're not kicking yourself and embarrassed to send it in. I was thinking nothing lower than around 700. Maybe 650 although I know this would still look pretty crummy to the top schools. The Princeton Review book says 44+ raw score or above an 800 is considered a "very good score."