If you took the OAT with the "old" scoring method....

[cloud99]

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.....please help the current OAT takers try to figure out the "new" scoring.

The new scoring of the OAT has begun and scores are appearing lower than last years round. This was expected, as ASCO announced that they will re-scale new test scores to coincide with the "average" that they want, which is 300 (down from a 320 or 330).

Recent test takers are now unsure how good or bad say, a 290 is. Is this the equivalent of a 310 or even a 320 on the previous score scales? It's difficult to tell. However, one thing that CAN be compared is the percentile. A recent OAT taker received a 320 TS which doesn't sound all that impressive, yet the score fell into the 69th percentile which is not too shabby. Was a 69th percentile a 350 previously?

It would really help the takers of the "new score" test to see the scores and especially their corresponding percentiles of those who took the "old score" test, as this may be the only way to compare what's good vs. what's not so good.

So please list all of your scores and their percentiles if you took the OAT with the old scoring.

 

[bobbio]

If I remember correctly, I belive a 350 with the old scoring was about the 90th percentile.

 

[jvelos3]

Took OAT last summer. 380 @ 99.5 percentile

 

[eyelove]

Percentile and score are not actually linked that way. Percentile is basically a comparison of your score with other test takers. There is a correlation, but no direct link.

 

[cloud99]

I guess I just wasn't clear...this new score scale is confusing!

I get it that percentile compares you to the other test takers, so if you scored in the 80th percentile, you performed better than 80% of all test takers. That is what I meant, that we can only compare percentiles to see how we did. But can we compare percentiles of old vs. new scoring?

As the test itself is unchanged in terms of difficulty, wouldn't every cycle's performance be roughly the same, plus or minus some level? If you took the test last year, was a 380 always about a 95th percentile, whether you took it in september or december, or did each administration of the exam vary alot?

I thought that maybe if we knew what a 90th percentile (or an 80th or a 70th) was on the old scoring then see what a 90th percentile was on the new scoring we could get a better idea of good vs. not so good scores.

example:
new score scale: Gen. Chem: 360= 93rd %ile
old score scale: Gen. Chem: 380= 93rd %ile
So should I expect my gen chem score to look about 20 points lower on average?

My head is spinning.

 

[blysssful]

cloud99, I see where you're coming from. Of course you can't expect that all the scores will correlate in the same way (I doubt that all sections will have a decrease in the same way), but here were my scores from Sept 2008:

section / score / percentile:
QR / 340 / 87.8
RC / 360 / 69.4
BIO/ 350 / 88.1
GC / 340 / 82.5
OC / 340 / 79.4
PHY/ 370 / 95.2
TS / 360 / 90.9
AA / 350 / 90.0

Good luck!

 

[lilmisseyeballs]

I took the OAT last year and got a 320aa, which was 67.4%ile then. and when I retook it back in January I got a 330aa and 76.7%ile. so then was my 330 really the "average" score at the time? would my score be equivalent to a 300 and 50%ile now? confused!

 

[cloud99]

It's so hard to tell. I think it's important to look at your percentiles. If you were above average on the old scale, you should still be above average on the new scale so even if your score drops 20 points your percentile should still be close to the same.

 

[DawgOD]

You worry about the new scoring.. but at the same time you can't... If you prepare like you should.. you should have no problem. The test didn't get harder.

 

[cloud99]

I know that the test didn't get harder (in fact I said that in a previous post). I'm not worried about the new scoring, I'm just trying to interpret it a little better.