<p>Really! I am so tired of the “stats” obsession here! SAT scores are really impoverished, uninteresting information. When you have a chance to judge people by their actual accomplishments – as reflected in many essays, in detailed recommendations, and in the record of four years of day-in, day-out work, why in the world would you care a whole lot about what she did in three hours one Saturday morning on a totally artificial test?</p>
<p>The SAT is helpful for understanding what a student’s grades and achievements may mean if one is comparing different high schools, and for showing a certain type of verbal and mathmatical facility that can pass as potential if a student has not been educated in a good environment. But it’s not learning anything, or writing anything real, or solving any real problems, or studying, or persevering, or any of the myriad things that real students do in college and in life.</p>
<p>The evidence is that selective colleges don’t care all that much about it, within a broad range. You shouldn’t, either.</p>