Kathryn+M.

Is the SAT Fair and Should Colleges Use It?

The Scholastic Aptitude Test otherwise known as the SAT is the hated standardized test that many high school juniors take. It is supposed to be a test that assesses your ability to read and analyze, your knowledge of math, and your writing skills and techniques. Most colleges look at students SATs as a main factor as to whether or not that student is accepted into college. But here is the problem, is the SAT a fair test for all students across the board and is it really an indicator for how we will perform later in life.

The first problem is whether or not the test is geared towards families that are of a different race or families that come from a higher income. If you think about it, the test is in English. There are reading and writing sections that are all in English. Even in the math section, the directions that tell you how to fill the bubbles in right in the free response questions are in English. So, what about the people who are better at another language, the people who had to learn English as a second language? Aren’t they at a disadvantage?

What about the people that come from a lower income? The test does not have a bubble that says did you have the same opportunities as the person sitting next to you. The test does not ask whether you were given the opportunity to go to a better school. The test does not inquire whether you had the opportunity to take a SAT prep class. So, aren’t lower income families at a disadvantage?

The second problem is if the SAT really indicates how we will perform in college or later in life. The test is supposed to test the reading, writing, and math abilities of a student. But does the SAT test hard work or effort? No! Personally, I believe that hard work and effort will get you a long way in life. So what about the kids that have worked their butts off to make good grades for years but don’t get into their dream school because they don’t quite make the SAT score? Is that fair?

The SAT is a time test and unless you qualify for extra time when time is up your pencil must be down. But what about the people who get very flustered by timed test and make silly mistakes because they are so worried about the time? So does that test necessarily show that a flustered time test taker is not as smart as one who is not bothered by the time?

So the problem is whether the SAT really is a test that colleges should rely on to determine who should get in over another person. It seems to me that the test does not assess all aspects of a student and it is geared to certain groups so how can a college judge you based on it. So, what do you think, is the SAT a fair test?

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