Recieved the SAT Score by Race- Race = 134 SAt points

green_lantern
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:05:07 +0000

I have to say this thread has been an interesting read. But I think you are trying to turn a very grey area in to a very black and white issue (no pun intended there).

Certainly I will not argue the point that yes just looking at race and test scores there is definetly a difference. But a little research on college boards website will also provide so key data relavent to this discussion.

First, the average white student who took the SAT in 2006 scored 1063 on the SAT, so 1319 minus the 1063, the average admitted white student scored 255 point higher than the average white test taker.

The average black student who took the SAT in 2006 scored 862 on the SAT, so 1187 minus the 862, the average admitted black student scored 325 point higher than the average black test taker.

Make what you will of that. But college boards data clearly shows that black students not only score lower on the SAT than white student, but they score the lowest in comparison to every other group of test takers.

Second, Tom to say that it doesn’t matter if 100% of black students are low income, and 100% of white students is also not accurate. Again, college boards data shows that students whose family income is below $50,000 the average test taker does not even reach 500 on either section of the SAT, while students with family incomes greater that $50,000 on average do score above 500.

Here is the link to the 2006 College-Bound Seniors Total Group Profile Report
College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
This is where I got my data from.

Additionally looking at some other data that is relevant to this discussion is right after the income data, that is Highest Level of Parental Education. The reason I bring this up is that having looked that the UF application, there are questions about family income, and parental education. Again looking at college boards data, students with parents who have pursued higher education degrees score better that students with parents that did not.

So perhaps that reason for the differnce between the averages in not based on race, but a collection of other data that impacts black applicants in greater numbers that other applicants in the applicant pool. Family income, family status (single family vs two parent household), parental education level.

To make a statement that the admissions office is easing the standards for black students is probably a bit of a stretch. The statistic here only correlate race and SAT, no other factors that went into the decision process. I believe there is more to this than blacks get a 137 point break on the SAT.

But just another piece of interest pulled from that data, over the three year period:

Applied Admitted Difference


Asians 1252.67 1323.67 +71.00
Blacks 1090.33 1187.00 +96.67
Hispanics 1175.67 1261.00 +85.33
Whites 1242.00 1318.00 +76.00

So the average admitted black student scored almost 100 points more that the average black applicant, where the white student was only 76 points more and the asian was only 71 points more.

Look forward to hearing what else everyone has to say on the subject. Personally, I look forward to the day when colleges and universities stop using standardized tests in the admissions process. Of course state schools like UF, FSU, UCF etc. really don’t have any say in the matter as it comes from the state. But we can always hope, taking that test back in the day was something I’m glad I don’t have to do again.