(Enough
opinion and a little
history).
Amazingly
enough, I did get a 1400 on my SAT (on the nose), but not at
first. You see, my original score was actually a 1390 (split down 670V, 720M). However, this was the second time I took the SATs, for a better
score (for scholarships and the like). I was good at taking these
tests, and I figured, "Heck, why not."
So after I received my first
score in the low 1300s, I took it
again, and got my 1390; I was quite
happy and satisfied with my score. Then on the news about a week after my scores had
arrived, In the spring of 1997, was watching the
national news when I saw a
historic event: There was a
mistake on the SATs, and it affected about 30% of the
tests taken.
As it turns out, someone taking the same test I had found the error in the
math problems that could make it
resolve to a
different answer, if you read it a certain way. (I belive the SAT book says that you should immediately make a
challenge to the
problem, after the test is over.) His name escapes me, but he must be pretty sharp to find a mistake, no one else had on that test. To all of the
people whom it affected, a
letter arrived in the mail a few weeks after they got their
scores. It informed me, and the many other people who took it, that there was a
mistake, and their test was among those that potentially contained the
error. Thus,
ten points was freely awarded to my
score, regardless of whether I got the problem right or wrong.
This was a
blessing beyond many others my
senior year. I could then apply for many of the higher scholarships, for which 1400
SATs was the cutoff. All I have to thank is some
anonymous person who is really good at
high school math, and a sharp
reader. I hope he did better than I; he deserved it.
(02-10-03): As an update, the person was Colin Rizzio, as reported by a Mr. Josh Huber, who went to high school with him
http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/feb/02-07-97/news/news7.html