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LIES OF THE SAT :: 12/05/05 As a current college applicant, the SAT rests heavily on my mind. Though all my tests are done, and my scores are in, it's still something I think about quite often. Why? Because it is corrupt and useless, and has become just another way for the wealthy to gain an advantage over the rest. When the SAT was created, it was meant to be just what it said it was: a scholastic aptitude test, made to t est innate ability. It was supposed to be given to everyone in high school, and those who tested well would be sought out by the college board. The point was to find people who would otherwise be overlooked, namely, poor people who couldn't afford private school and such, but could prove they had innate ability by performing well on the test. It used to be that a 1300 or 1400 was considered excellent, and people with scores higher would be sought out, regardless of station in life. So what happened? Pretty soon, people realized they could prepare themselves for the test. Classes were created; books were released. Soon, the wealthy, with an investment of a few hundred dollars (or more, for a personal tutor) could boost their scores by hundreds of points. By now, top colleges will accept nothing less than a 1500 (in old SAT terms, out of 1600). Those who can afford to take the classes now have a huge advantage over those who can't, utterly defeating the purpose of the test. And the worst part? Because everyone who can takes the classes and gets a boosted score, it's impossible to compete without this added edge. Everyone has to take what advantage they can to simply keep up, which only propagates the system. My solution? Abandon the SAT. It no longer serves a purpose, and is only adding to the already biased and corrupt system of the college admission process. |