The SAT is a joke

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@ElizaLou

Oh my god! That’s so stupid! It really does not test readiness for college. You’re probably already in college, since you seem to know how important this test is in university life. What SAT skills are you using at your college? The endurance to take a ridiculously long test? The ability to properly use the word “archipelago” in a sentence?

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<p>Good of you to knock two of the skills used for the SAT off the list. I was thinking that the more important ones are:</p>

<p>Skills in being able to write lucidly and directly
Critical reading and interpretation skills
Concentration (so you don’t flag after such a long time being tested)
Vocabulary (yes, much as people hate it, it’s important - not to be able to use ridiculously obscure words, but those words aren’t on the SAT, and if you think they are, your vocabulary sucks. fyi, archipelago is not obscure, nor is it difficult to use in a sentence)</p>

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@ElizaLou

And I really don’t know what college you go to, but here we don’t ever talk about the SAT.

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<p>Firstly, I don’t go to college (I’m in high school). Secondly, where did I say anything about how much the SAT was talked about? Thirdly, why exactly does it matter?</p>

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@ElizaLou

Work, participation, ability to read, ability to talk to your peers and professors…that’s really what you need to know.

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<p>Ability to read… gosh, that sounds remarkably like something tested on the SAT… Critical Reading maybe? No, it couldn’t be, otherwise you wouldn’t be listing it as something you need in college. Oh wait, you just did.</p>

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@ElizaLou

Plus, taking a midterm or final in a course is so vastly different from taking the SAT. First of all, it’s knowledge worth knowing and it’s probably actually going to be important in your life.

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<p>So you’ve given one reason, which really isn’t a reason - since most finals actually won’t be important in your life, unless you happen to intend to go into a career that uses exactly the topics tested on that exam. So that argument is fallacious.</p>

<p>Care to give any other real reasons?</p>

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@ElizaLou

I see plenty of people who got 1800s on the SAT and are doing very well. And at the same time I see people who got 2390s who should probably go back to high school. I did very well on the SAT and I feel like it did very little for me (besides getting me to college) and I think many would say the same.

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<p>Well what did you expect? The test isn’t perfect, anyone can tell you that. It tests certain skills needed in college (some of which I mentioned, one of which you ironically mentioned). It doesn’t do anything for you, nor is it supposed to. It’s suppoed to help assess your readiness for college, which it does. So really, getting you into college was exactly what it was supposed to do - you did well, and clearly you’re ready for college. Thus it is performing its intended task. QED.</p>

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@ElizaLou

I hope everyone else will at least admit that there are so many better ways to gauge whether or not someone’s “ready for college.” Even the college board is thinking about finding a different way to do so.

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<p>Yes, there are better ways. That is why most of the better schools put more of an emphasis on things like academic record, ECs, personal qualities, etc. than on the SAT. That does not mean the SAT is worthless or flawed, though. It’s a component of an applicant’s profile, like so many other things.</p>

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@ElizaLou

It’s just amazing that even after people have taken the SAT and have gotten into college, they still believe that the test is important.

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<p>There we go making assumptions again… you should probably make less of them, and try making some actual coherent arguments instead. :)</p>