2015 NoVa SAT Scores (Arlington, Alexandria, Annandale: middle schools, public transportation, suburban)

[Ffxdata]

Originally Posted by TheWatchmen

Oh, I always forget about H-B Woodlawn.

This is just more about my personal experience, and in talking to my friends who are getting married, have young families, and are settling down into single family homes and deciding where to live for the next chapter of their lives. Most of us simply cannot or do not want to spend the money that it costs to live in Arlington, North or South, whether their SAT scores are high or not. I don't personally subscribe to the "I Need a McMansion for $400k" mentality, but I'm also not in the pack of - I'm going to spend $600k for a dump that needs to be gutted, or $1.5 million for a newly done home.

I agree. I also am not naïve enough to think that my zoning won't change in the next 14 years before my kid reaches high school. Even in established areas, it can be risky to buy based on where you are zoned. Fairfax County has been changing elementary school boundaries left and right! I can honestly say that having a good school district mattered to us, but I never considered checking the SAT scores. A lot can change in a decade and a half.

[TheWatchmen]

Originally Posted by Ffxdata

I agree. I also am not naïve enough to think that my zoning won't change in the next 14 years before my kid reaches high school. Even in established areas, it can be risky to buy based on where you are zoned.

Agreed - that is a risky bet to take.

And it isn't just your house that might change boundaries. The high school that my neighborhood has been zoned to for decades has seen other stable SFH neighborhoods zoned away to other schools, drastically changing the landscape of the school. So, even while my house has been zoned to school X for a long time, the demographics of school X have changed dramatically in the last 10 years, and not necessarily for the better.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Ffxdata

I agree. I also am not naïve enough to think that my zoning won't change in the next 14 years before my kid reaches high school. Even in established areas, it can be risky to buy based on where you are zoned. Fairfax County has been changing elementary school boundaries left and right! I can honestly say that having a good school district mattered to us, but I never considered checking the SAT scores. A lot can change in a decade and a half.

Indeed.

I have a somewhat unusual perspective, in that I know the school boundaries and how they've changed - at least in APS and FCPS - over time. I'm also familiar with the trends in SAT scores at different schools over the past 10-20 years. As a result, when I see the latest test scores, they tend to reinforce things I think I already know about the region. I also like the fact that FCPS doesn't add up the reading, math and writing sections of the SAT, which gives me an opportunity every year to do some basic arithmetic or use neglected applications on my desktop.

But, to speak to your point, when we first bought in NoVa over 20 years ago, our assigned HS was in the bottom half of FCPS, maybe even the bottom third. It didn't really matter that much to me, because I liked the neighborhood, our general impression was that it would be a decent place to live, and there was always the possibility that we'd get reassigned to one of the several high schools closer to our house than the one to which we were assigned.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Ffxdata

The median score doesn't really matter. A good score is one that will get you into your college of choice. A great score is one that will get you a scholarship to that school. More and more universities are getting rid of the standardized testing requirement in favor of more holistic entry criteria.

This is interesting info. Thanks for sharing.

It's good that colleges are moving away from this, but I still wonder what is considered a good score and what isn't. Maybe "median" was the wrong word to choose in my earlier question.

[Ffxdata]

Originally Posted by dkf747

It's good that colleges are moving away from this, but I still wonder what is considered a good score and what isn't. Maybe "median" was the wrong word to choose in my earlier question.

1500 is the overall average. Below 1100 is considered "bad." But in the link below reiterates that a great score for one school is unacceptable at another.

What's a Good SAT Score or ACT Score? | Prep | The Princeton Review

[TheWatchmen]

And they are changing the SAT BACK to what seems to be the old format as I remember - 1600 scale, and the essay will be optional.

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Ffxdata

1500 is the overall average. Below 1100 is considered "bad." But in the link below reiterates that a great score for one school is unacceptable at another.

What's a Good SAT Score or ACT Score? | Prep | The Princeton Review

The College Board has a "benchmark score" of 1550, which it claims is correlated with a 65% chance of attaining a B- or higher freshman average at a four-year university. Obviously there are lots of other factors that come into play.

http://media.collegeboard.com/digita..._PR_120914.pdf

[hilsmom]

oh, I guess I misinterpreted the question about average - I thought it was talking about the County average scores, the state average and the national average. It is always interesting to see where schools fall in relation to those.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by hilsmom

oh, I guess I misinterpreted the question about average - I thought it was talking about the County average scores, the state average and the national average. It is always interesting to see where schools fall in relation to those.

Demanding audience!

TJHSST 2182 (FCPS)
HB Woodlawn 1862 (APS)
Langley 1815 (FCPS)
McLean 1813 (FCPS)
Woodson 1773 (FCPS)
Yorktown 1768 (APS)
George Mason 1766 (FCCPS)
Oakton 1755 (FCPS)
Madison 1744 (FCPS)
Marshall 1713 (FCPS)
Washington-Lee 1699 (APS)
Robinson 1691 (FCPS)
Chantilly 1685 (FCPS)
APS AVERAGE 1680
West Springfield 1672 (FCPS)
South Lakes 1669 (FCPS)
FCPS AVERAGE 1669
Stone Bridge 1666 (LCPS)
Lake Braddock 1661 (FCPS)
Briar Woods 1640 (LCPS)
Fairfax 1640 (FCPS)
Dominion 1638 (LCPS)
Centreville 1637 (FCPS)
Westfield 1633 (FCPS)
Potomac Falls 1632 (LCPS)
Freedom 1629 (LCPS)
Herndon 1628 (FCPS)
Loudoun Valley 1622 (LCPS)
Loudoun County 1614 (LCPS)
LCPS AVERAGE 1612
Woodgrove 1610 (LCPS)
Broad Run 1609 (LCPS)
Tuscarora 1601 (LCPS)
Heritage 1586 (LCPS)
South County 1581 (FCPS)
West Potomac 1572 (FCPS)
John Champe 1569 (LCPS)
Edison 1523 (FCPS)
STATE AVERAGE 1523
Annandale 1517 (FCPS)
Stuart 1506 (FCPS)
Hayfield 1498 (FCPS)
Falls Church 1491 (FCPS)
Wakefield 1462 (APS)
NATIONAL AVERAGE 1462
Lee 1441 (FCPS)
TC Williams 1433 (ACPS)
Park View 1420 (LCPS)
Mount Vernon 1407 (FCPS)

[TheseGoTo11]

Loudoun County seems to underperform its demographics.