MORE than one million high school students take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) each year.
The SAT is an entrance requirement of most colleges and universities in the United States. Some even use it as the main admission criterion. Others use it with a combination of grades, extra-curricular activities and recommendations.
On May 6, several hundred secondary school students in Hong Kong will be taking the SAT.
The good news? These candidates will get higher scores than their classmates or siblings who took the test in January, because the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is changing its SAT scoring curve beginning with the May test.
The ETS is re-adjusting SAT scores to bring the average up to the level they were 50 years ago. In effect, students will be getting a bonus: 430 points on the verbal SAT in January will become 510 points under the new system.
Mr Glenn Berkey, director of Princeton Review, Hong Kong Office, said the new scoring system did not mean that anyone was getting more intelligent. The students should be aware that it is just the average score that has been readjusted.