The kids are all right

[ritaxis]

Frank's MCAT score: 12, 12, Q, 12. This is very very good. This is better than very good. This is probable admission to medical school. The Q is his score on the writing sample: the range is from J (weakest) to T (strongest).

Emma's SAT IIIs are very good. I can't remember the numbers, but they're all good.

Emma's first band review went really well.

Brag brag brag. The kids are all right.

I still have another foot of kelpy thing to do, a job or two to apply to, grout to apply, and then -- write write write write.

Comments

[dendrophilous.livejournal.com]

J to T????

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't develop the grading and reporting thing, the medical school people did. I think it's weird, myself. The whole grading thing is weird. They don't decide how much each part of the questions on the exams is worth until they see how many people get it right. So if you get an answer that a lot of people don't, they give you more points for that. Which is the only part of the lengthy explanation I got. The rest was just confusing. Because, even though there is this weird curved (kind of) component, the final scores are not related to percentiles. You get a report showing the curve, and 12 doesn't mean the same thing opnm every test.
Theoretically, you could get 15,15,T,15 (bio sciences, verbal reasoning, physical sciences). But nobody does. Actually, Frank's aggregate percentile ranking is significantly higher than any one test, which I think means he is a well-rounded young man.

I think they deliberately mark the writing samples with weird letters because they don't want anybody to think in terms of a conventional score or grade. Which they do anyway: they immediately look at the charts and say "Hmm, Q is like an 85th percentile." At least Frank did.


All very bizarrre, but he's happy, I'm happy, the nice fellow is happy, and we're less worried about next year.

[dendrophilous.livejournal.com]

Very, very strange. And congrats to him; he must be happy with how he did.