SAT Scores
By Margaret Lyons in News on Aug 31, 2004 6:14PM
The College Board released its report today on national and statewide trends in SAT scores. The national average is the same as last year: 1026. Verbal scores are up one point to 508 and math scores are down one point to 518. Illinoiss average, though reported here as being the same, actually appears to be 1182, with 585 on verbal and 597 on math. You can read the whole Illinois report in this .pdf, or trust us that thats whats on page 12. Actually, the report is pretty interesting and worth flipping throughthe information is broken down in lots of different ways, and its kind of cool. Nerd alert.
Only about 10 percent of Illinois high school students take the SATs, so these reports only reflect the scores of the 13, 937 students who took the SAT I. An additional 4,264 took just SAT IIs, and 3,504 took both. Of students who identified their race, 72 percent identified themselves as white; 13 percent as Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander; 7 percent as black or African American; 3 percent as Mexican or Mexican American; 3 percent as "other"; 2 percent as Latin American, South American, Central American, or other Hispanic or Latino; and 1 percent as Puerto Rican. Yes, that does add to 101 percent. Around 17 percent of the test-takers didnt answer that question.
Ten years ago, the average score in Illinois was 553/562 (verbal/math), five years ago it was 569/585, and last year it was 583/596, so we're moving in the right direction, but growth is slowing down. God damn, taking the SATs really sucked.