I barely graduated from High School, having done well all the way through Junior year and then giving up Senior year (this was 1968 and in the midst of a big change in our society).
I ended up in the Air Force after not being able to get a decent job anywhere, or go to college (my fault) and because I was 1A. I did eight + years, during that time I got married and we had a son. I got out and came home to work for $150/week repairing electronic medical equipment, still more than I made in the AF.
I wanted more and studied and took the SATs and applied to a very well known engineering school here in GA. I never did find out what my SAT scores were, the school never told me, but they miraculously accepted me.
On entering, I took their assessment tests and on the math part I got a 39% - very bad, and it demoralized me a lot. It was then I realized why they never told me my SAT scores and why they accepted me. It was because I was a veteran, plain and simple.
It took me 13 straight year-round quarters to graduate. I did this because I knew if I took a quarter off, I’d never go back. The first quarter was filled taking ‘remedial everything’. I did okay and thereafter I worked and studied damned hard - up to 2 or 3 in the morning most nights. I was on the Dean’s List 12 of those quarters.
So, yes. There are cases where SATs don’t mean much. It’s more about how hard you study, IMO.
Didn’t know there was ever a system whereby a college could have you take the SAT such that the scores weren’t reported directly to you.
But SATs at that time especially were aptitude tests. An engineering school’s assessment test would have been on knowledge, simply to know which classes to place you in.
It’s not surprising that you were behind on that, but with hard work could catch up and adequately complete their program. Yeah, they may have given you a boost in acceptance because of your veteran status, but you likely, especially if you had generally done well in school, were in range to be able to do the work.