Scoring on the SAT II Math IC is the same as the scoring for all other SAT II tests. For every right answer, you earn one point. For every wrong answer, you lose 1/4 of a point. For every answer left blank, you earn zero points. These points combined equal your raw score. ETS converts your raw score to a scaled score according to a special curve tailored to the particular test you take. We have included a generalized version of that curve in a table below. Use this table to convert your raw scores on practice tests into an approximate scaled score.
| Average Raw Score |
Scaled Score |
Average Raw Score |
Scaled Score |
| 50 |
800 |
18–19 |
480 |
| 49 |
780 |
17 |
470 |
| 48 |
770 |
16 |
460 |
| 47 |
760 |
15 |
450 |
| 46 |
740 |
14 |
440 |
| 45 |
730 |
13 |
430 |
| 44 |
720 |
12 |
430 |
| 43 |
710 |
11 |
420 |
| 42 |
700 |
10 |
410 |
| 41 |
690 |
9 |
400 |
| 40 |
680 |
8 |
390 |
| 39 |
670 |
7 |
380 |
| 38 |
660 |
6 |
370 |
| 37 |
650 |
5 |
370 |
| 36 |
640 |
4 |
360 |
| 35 |
630 |
3 |
350 |
| 34 |
610 |
2 |
340 |
| 33 |
600 |
1 |
330 |
| 32 |
590 |
0 |
330 |
| 31 |
580 |
–1 |
320 |
| 30 |
570 |
–2 |
310 |
| 29 |
560 |
–3 |
300 |
| 28 |
550 |
–4 |
300 |
| 27 |
550 |
–5 |
290 |
| 26 |
540 |
–6 |
280 |
| 25 |
530 |
–7 |
270 |
| 24 |
520 |
–8 |
260 |
| 23 |
510 |
–9 |
260 |
| 22 |
510 |
–10 |
250 |
| 21 |
500 |
–11 |
240 |
| 20 |
490 |
–12 |
230 |
As you can see, this curve is not very forgiving. Getting just one question wrong will lower your score by 20 points. Reiterating what we said earlier, you can miss a bunch of questions on the Math IIC and still get the same score you would receive on the Math IC if you missed just one. For example, a raw score of 41 on the Math IIC test receives an equivalent scaled score as a raw score of 49 on the Math IC test.
But all is not hopeless on the SAT II Math IC. On a 50-question test, you could score:
- 780 if you answered 49 right, 0 wrong, and left 1 blank
- 740 if you answered 46 right, 0 wrong, and left 4 blank
- 700 if you answered 43 right, 4 wrong, and left 3 blank
- 650 if you answered 39 right, 8 wrong, and left 3 blank
- 650 if you answered 38 right, 4 wrong, and left 7 blank
- 600 if you answered 35 right, 8 wrong, and left 7 blank
These sample scores suggest that when taking the test, you shouldn’t imagine your score plummeting with every question you can’t confidently answer. Don’t get unnecessarily wound up if you run into a difficult question; the key to doing well on SAT II Math IC is to follow a strategy that ensures you will see and answer all the questions you can, while intelligently guessing on those slightly fuzzier questions. We discuss these strategies in the next chapter.
