Scooby Gang SAT Scores

Wishing Oceans

Wishing Oceans

I don't think, I know.
Joined
Nov 9, 2008
Messages
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One thing on the show that I've always considered to be really unrealistic were the SG's SAT scores. I just cannot seem to convince myself that Buffy, a girl who has never portrayed that she cared about school or was even of above average intelligence academics wise, could beat Willow by 700 points. Willow is basically a GENIUS, and Buffy was always seen as hating school and never studying. I just don't see it, it would've never happened. Also, Cordelia in top ten percent of her class? Cordelia, like Buffy, has always been a slight airhead, or at least until Angel. 😀 To me, it all seems like a poor attempt to create a Buffy Conflict: Stay with Angel and SG in Sunnydale, or go to a high class college and escape from Slayer duties. To me, it seemed way to fake though. 🙂 if she moved, then the show would've had to end.

Thoughts?
 
I always believe that Buffy was lucky about guessing answers for SAT. After she's done good things and saved the world, she deserved something as a reward. 😀

About Cordy, I don't think she's airhead. She was mean, she went out clubbing at night, but I've seen many times that she paid attention to the classes. Like, she knew when they'll have History test. She knew that P.E. class was canceled. She was always the person who tells the Scoobies about these things. 🙂 Plus, she got accepted from more than 5 colleges as she showed it to Xander in Graduation Day. But sadly, she couldn't attend to them. 🙁
 
I actually found that to be very true to life, I've know a few people who Tested well, as well as some people that were always referred to as Airheads and then got incredible test scores.
 
W
Willow-Tree
[No message]
I think it could happen, and it did happened in real life. Some people who were never involved that much got great scores. I think they wanted to show us with that Buffy is not just all bod strenght, because if they had potrayed her like that she wouldn't be unique, so they showed us her mind strenght.
 
I think they reflect them quite well. Buffy cared about school, I think she wanted to do well, it's just that something had to give somewhere and she let school be that sacrifice. And I guess maybe she's one of those people who test well. Although we do see her studying for them with Giles don't we?

And I can relate to Willow here. I always had great grades at high school/GCSE level, and then I had one exam at A Level/college that I studied and studied for; I read the book like five times, it was covered in annotation and I did so many practice questions and extra work and I ended up taking it like three times because I didn't get the grade expected of me. And after the third time, I still didn't! 😛 But the same thing might have just happened to Willow (well, it's not like she did badly - neither did I as it goes) but there might have just been something that stumped her despite all the work she put in.

And with Xander, although he was clever and witty, he never really tried. Sometimes people who don't try do get great results (and it's really annoying) but usually if you don't put the work in, you don't get the result.

Cordelia, even though she was popular and a bit shallow, I think she always did really try. In 'Out of Mind, Out of Sight' she knows she's struggling to grasp something so she asks for extra help. And for me, that really says something - she was smart enough to know she wanted to do well, and the best way to do it.

And after thinking about all that in this reply, I think they're different scores just show a different example of what happens in real life, like others have said. 😉 (I could have just said that, but I like to ramble 😛)
 
Mumrik
Mumrik
[No message]
Well I'm not an expert in US scholastics but I never felt too bad for Xander as opposed to say Buffy etc. I know a lot of people who don't test well but still do well in their career. Some people are not necessarily that smart (or even have common sense) but they just happened to do well at standardized tests. All this said, I really don't know how SATs work so I can't comment on them too much.
 
I always thought that Buffy more than likely guessed really well. I definitely never saw her as stupid, so even without ever going to class I could see her retaining enough information to pass a test with a good grade. Cordelia was mean, not an airhead. Besides, we see in "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" in S1 that she talks to the teacher about her assignment, showing that she cares about getting a good grade and passing the class. 🙂
I agree with what Wesley said about Xander's score, though. Obviously he's not stupid; being a carpenter does take a certain amount of knowledge and skill. And just because someone's goofy or the "class clown" does not mean they're also not smart enough to do well on a test.
 
Considering that we only know of a few brainiacs going in Buffy's year, it's not that unbelieveable that Cordy could be the top ten per cent, is it?

Maybe the other smarts ones got eaten.
 
Skytteflickan88 said:
Considering that we only know of a few brainiacs going in Buffy's year, it's not that unbelieveable that Cordy could be the top ten per cent, is it?
Click to expand...

Cordy definitely has moments where you'd question how well she could do on a test though: like trying to get out of a ticket because she was going one way or telling Giles he's going to wake up in a coma.
 
S
Skytteflickan88
So I guess my second guess, that the smarter kids got eaten, is more likely.
^True but a lot of clever/bright people don't have very much common sense! 😛
 
BuffyElevated
BuffyElevated
God, that is so true. My sister has a lot of book smarts but she's dumb as a rock when it comes to common sense.
I didn't think Buffy beat Willow by 700 points? What were their actual results?

I don't think it is unrealistic at all that Buffy or Cordy did well. As Cordy said she kept it quite that she got good grades in school but Cordy was smart, she may have rolled with Harmony but that was about all they had in common. Buffy is totally understandable too. Just look at how fast she thinks in the field, how inovative she is, the plans she comes up with. Then there is her wit. The girl is clearly very smart and astute. She proves this in season 4 when she does very well in college. What Buffy didn't have was time to dedicate to her school work but she was an incredibly able student.
 
About the 700 points difference...
The way I understood it, Willow got 700 on verbal, Buffy got 1400 on total. So, in total, Willow might even still have a higher score than Buffy, cos I'm sure she aced math.

Also, Cordy, I don't think she's stupid. As a fellow airhead (well not always, but I have my moments), I can just say that there are times when you make a stupid remark, only because it is sort of expected to you. A friend from school once told me I'm really good at 'acting blonde'. If I am, I bet the same could be said for Cordy. And that's the thing, the way you present yourself to the outside doesn't necessarily have to reflect how smart you actually are. It was expected of Cordy to be the dumb, shallow cheerleader, as she put it herself, "please, I have some experience covering these things up". In high school, she didn't want anyone to think of her as brainy, and, smart as she is, she did a great job not appearing to bright.
 
You say this all about Cordy, and the same could be said for Harmony, and I'm almost positive her score was lower than her age.
 
Well i was surprised as well when Buffy hit such a high score...I think both the scoobies and many fans underestimate her in the beginning but then we all learn that the true Buffy is really smart.

She is so busy with the Slaying...i mean i spend about 7 hours in Med School every day(sometimes more) and then I am so tired that i can hardly study...and Buffy could go out at nights and kick ass...then go to school!She is remarkable!

And in senior class she really tried.She said that to Angel when he returned in season 3.She always wanted to be sth good, she said that to her mother. She wanted to be normal. That is as she said herself...good in sports or good in school...not good in Slaying vampires...but that was her destiny after all.Buffy likes learning...she is not fond of studying which is understandable.

As for Willow...I don't know about her total score.But the girl is a genious. So good with Maths and pc's!She must have gotten a really high score, unless she got stressed...and stress can block the mind clarity.

And Cordelia...despite her bitchy behaviour and her head being on the clouds...I never thought of her as stupid or not caring about school...as a Queen C she would probably like to be good in everything!!! Maybe all she wanted is to look beautiful and be popular amongst guys, and she thinks that guys don't need someone smart but someone pretty and popular.
 
I think Buffy is very intelligent, but I think she's more street smart than school smart. Like, she didn't know what a haiku was, and that's a very well know type of poem.
 
Why were you all surprised. I was glad because she finally got something she wanted and she worked hard for it. Go, Buffy! 🙂
 
E
Eleftheria
I agree!I think she did work hard but mostly in the senior year.She deserved it!Considering everything she went through to be ace
oops!I didn't finish my phrase! Considering everything she went throguh to be accepted back in school in season 3...and after a summer of loneliness...
 
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