Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

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In order for a high school student to be accepted into almost any college or university, their standardized test scores must meet a minimum requirement. With everything else that a high school student has to focus on, such as grades, club involvement, extracurricular activities, and the pressure of parents and teachers, the SAT is another stressful component that occurs at this point in their lives. When the admissions team reviews a student’s transcript, the first thing they notice is the SAT score. Some colleges such as, New York University, will not even look at the rest of the application if the score does not meet their expectations. Regardless of the fact that a student may be well-rounded, has done a lot for his or her community, and has achieved good grades, the final decision, according to Collegeboard, is often based on how one performed on the SAT. Most schools that are researched through Collegeboard show that the admissions board weighs the SAT more than every other factor or is equally weighted next to the student’s class rank. This is not a fair way of judging a student’s true ability or potential.

Many sources have proven that the SAT does not show anything different than a high school GPA. For example, studies done by Gottfredson and Crouse show that 90% of the decision to accept of reject the student would be the same if it was based on either the SAT or the high school GPA. “SAT scores and high school rank are moderately correlated with each other [from .4 to .5] so that outcomes predicted from high school rank alone have a part-whole correlation of at least .8 with outcomes predicted from rank plus SAT” (Elert). Regardless of what has been proven, there has still been a lot of controversy over the SAT. Most colleges still use it as the deciding factor for acceptance because they see it from a different perspective. Even though there are not many sources that prove that the SAT tests students’ qualifications for college, many colleges still think that the SAT is the most accurate judge of this. Every high school across the country has different standards. Receiving a 3.5 GPA from a school in New York could be equivalent to a 4.0 GPA from a school in Massachusetts. Each school has different ways of teaching and grading, which can make a student from New York seem less qualified than one from Massachusetts. This is a major reason why the SAT is said to be the most important factor by many colleges and universities. Although this may be true, the test’s content is very much flawed. It has biases and is judged by fast reading and quick math. Even though this may seem important, these are not the most important factors that are needed for college.

According to many articles about the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it is proven that the test does not show a student’s work ethic or their ability to succeed in college. Created in the 1920’s by Carl Brigham, the SAT was originally a version of an I.Q. test shaped to test a student’s innate intellect. This is not the case anymore, however. As of March 1994, it was determined that the SAT no longer tested the aptitude of a student, and the name was changed to the “Scholastic Assessment Test.” According to CollegeBoard, its current purpose is to assess the skills that a student needs in college, which is necessary, however there needs to be more information about a student in order to see their true skills. An I.Q test more clearly demonstrates how effectively a student applies themselves, along with their ability to learn and succeed. The SAT fails to do this; rather, they show what a student does not know.

The format of the SAT does not help to show how much a student actually knows and the amount that they are capable of learning in an actual college setting. The reading comprehension portion of the SAT consists of multiple choice questions based on random readings. This basically allows a student to show off how quickly they can read and process the information. Even though this may be helpful in a classroom, from experience, students can still get by based on their study habits and motivation. Students that have not developed (or simply do not have) the ability to read fast and need to take a few more minutes to absorb the information will do worse than those who can read rapidly. In college this lack of skill is not a problem because a majority of the work is done a students’ spare time; therefore a test should not try and seek out this skill but go back to one that tests a student’s born knowledge. The fact that a student can read quickly does not necessarily mean that the student is any smarter; it simply shows that a student can retain the information slightly quicker than the other. A common argument is that “The SATs do not measure the ability to think or create in any field” (FairTest). Multiple choice questions cannot test a student’s writing or reasoning abilities; in fact, a few lucky guesses can significantly set you apart from another equally deserving student. Once again, this does not show that a student does not have decent work ethics; it shows that anyone can do good or bad on any given day. Considering how much money students must pay to take the exam, this is not right, especially since students take it multiple times in fear that their score is not good enough.

Financial concerns also play an enormous role in a student’s ability to perform well on the SAT. A student’s annual household income is a major factor in the outcome of his or her score. On average, an SAT prep course can range anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000. Since students are not required to disclose whether or not they have taken such a course, the student who has taken the course has the upper hand. A student benefiting from a prep course will improve their score by at least one-hundred points. Studies conducted by James Fellows in 1974 and then again by Crouse and Trusheim in 1996 show a clear direct correlation between family income and SAT scores (Hamilton College Gov. Dep.). While I am not saying that these courses should not be offered, I believe that these types of things need to be taken into consideration. A student should be able to have the option to inform the admissions officer that they were unable to take such courses so that they will not be undermined by those that were fortunate enough to afford these classes. This is the only accurate way in which a college can find out who has had the advantage in this situation.

Another reason why the SAT is proven unjust is because of its bias nature. There have been accusations made about the SAT being racially biased. Different races grow up learning different skills and lessons. Culturally, an African-American family is going to teach their children different values than those from a White family. According to, “Race and Testing,” an article written by scholars at Hamilton College, tests have been done that proved that the language on the SAT is more “mainstream white culture” and is therefore not fair for other cultures. Nothing is being done with this however, because there are too many different cultures in America, “that the creation of one "universal", unbiased test is impossible” (“Race and Testing.” Hamilton College.) The fact that there have been no solutions to this problem is just another reason why to SAT should be altered.

I can entirely relate to this matter because during my high school experience I had to face many disappoints due to my SAT scores. My top choice school, Northeastern University in Boston, rejected me. I can not be completely positive that my SAT score were the sole reason why I was not accepted, but compared to people around me who did get in to NU; this seemed to be the case. As a result, I feel very strongly about changing the admissions process. The SAT is unreasonable and I think that if the SAT cannot be eliminated completely, this test should be given considerably less weight during the admissions process. If the SAT is so accurate, why are some colleges questioning them? The President of the University of California, Richard C. Atkinson, along with 400 others in the United States, has already decided to drop the SAT as an evaluative tool for admissions (Cloud). In a speech given to the American Council of Education in 2001, Atkinson argued that the SAT is overemphasized and distorts educational practices and principles. He agrees that the test is perceived by many as unfair due to its biases; effects of such biases have an overwhelming impact on a student’s self-esteem and aspirations. Hopefully the decisions of these colleges will act as a precedent for many others to follow in years to come.

Some factors that colleges seem to be using instead of the SAT are a student’s high school transcript, class rank, interviews, extracurricular and volunteer activities, the reputation of a student’s high school, and the difficulty of classes taken. These are more important factors to consider when evaluating a college applicant’s academic ability. At my high school there were many students that did a minimal amount of work, refused to go to class, and were even failing some classes, yet they still scored over a 1200 on their SAT. Is this the type of student that colleges are looking for? I am not claiming those working in college admissions departments to be completely ignorant; I understand that a high school transcript, class rank, interviews, and extracurricular activities are, in fact, taken into consideration. The problem is that these factors are most often viewed as secondary in importance to SAT scores.

Therefore, if the awareness about the SAT being unfair is spread to many different colleges, this problem can slowly be solved. As long as there are colleges and universities willing to see that there is more to a student then fast reading, and quick math skills, then the SAT will no longer need to be required and students will have a reasonable chance of getting into the college they deserve.