I got several emails after yesterday’s post from people who disagreed with me. That's fine. It's part of the blogging-every-day gig.
But too many families listen to admissions assertions that begin the same way several of those emails began:
“Someone told me…”
"I've heard…"
That's not fine.
When it comes to college admissions matters, these statements are almost always followed by factually incorrect assertions unless the source is a) a high school counselor; b) a qualified private counselor; c) a college admissions officer. All too often, the source is a friend, neighbor or distant connection of some kind. That doesn't often lead to good college planning decisions.
In the case of whether some months have “easier” SAT curves, here's what the How is the SAT scored? section of the College Board's website has to say about “equating” each administration:
In our statistical analysis, equating adjusts for slight differences in difficulty between test editions and ensures that a student's score of, say, 450 on one edition of a test reflects the same ability as a score of 450 on another edition of the test. Equating also ensures that a student's score does not depend on how well others did on the same edition of the test.
I don't mind if you disagree with me. But please be careful who you talk—and listen—to.