SAT: Student Affluence Test
Should we all really give the SAT so much attention? The Scholastic Aptitude Test is a standardized test created with the intention of predicting students’ overall performance in university and has become a staple requirement for students looking to apply for college. But, should colleges put so much emphasis on the result of a single test? Do all students taking the test, rich or poor, American or International, white or black or asian all truly stand the very same chance to perform well at the test?
According to The Wall Street Journal, parents spend thousands of dollars for their children to attend SAT preparation courses meant to help familiarize them with and practice its 3 sections: Writing, Critical reading and Mathematics. In fact, the EF Language Center in Boston offers such courses as part of some of their University Preparation programs. Is the money and time spent worth it? Studies show that these preparation courses boost scores by only an average of 30 points. Not a big difference considering the perfect score is 2400.
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Universities use these scores to judge students’ potential, which can make the difference between being accepted or not. Why universities require applicants to take a test of such massive influence when students’ GPA can speak in their place? Because of the SAT’s seemed bias, some people have referred to it as the “Student Affluence Test”. However, despite the solid evidence, nobody has been accurately able to pinpoint what causes these patterns to