The scholastic aptitude test or popularly known as the SAT is the standardized test and one of the sole determining factors for getting  into college in the United States. Most colleges require potential students to take a standardized test, like the SAT or the ACT, whose 1600 point based score help determine who gets a chance at a university degree and ensuing good thing in life. SAT scores are also a sole determining factor to award scholarships in various universities. So is the SAT fair to be given such a big importance in the field of higher education ?

            SAT is characterized for strategic guessing, the highly-speeded pace, and cultural biases. The SAT denies African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and women equal opportunities for higher education. The president of the University of California (UC) Dr. Richard C. Atkinson proposed last year to scrap the SAT as a requirement for UC admission. Atkinson argued that “Tests like the SAT do not provide a true measure of intellectual abilities. The test should be replaced by an achievement test that reflects a mastery of specific subjects in high school.” Not only the SAT, but other standardized tests including the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), fail to encourage critical thinking but they exhibit cultural, racial and gender bias. Linda MCNeil, professor of education and co-director of Rice’s Center for Education says “diagnostic uses of standardized tests are the only ones that I find being more frequently used for helpful purposes rather than harmful ones.” She also describes the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test as a ticket to nowhere.

            Researches show that white students tend to do better than most of the other ethnic groups in the SAT. The average score a white student acquires in the SAT is around the 1030 (Verbal - 518, Math – 512) mark and on the other hand African Americans has the lowest average. African Americans on average get about 200 points less than White students. Mexican American is the next to follow with a score of about 150 points less than his fellow white friend. The Puerto Ricans are also in the same bracket getting an average 150 points less than a white student. Latin Americans, South Americans, Central American or other Hispanic or Latino get around 60 points less than an average white student. In general minorities score, on national average is 198 points lower than whites. It is also found that students with an annual family income of more than 100,000 score 257 points higher on a national average than students with a family income of 10,000. So SAT can well be stated as an example of rich power structure controlling society.

            However, while everyone wants a fair test but some may argue that SAT is quite fair and has no cultural bias in it. Contemporary professor of the Rice University Cole Wright says that “The SAT is very valuable in getting a lot of reliable information with little time requirement.” But if the test was flawless then why for the last few years ETS has tried several ways to make the test equal for all ethnic groups? “Starting in spring 2005, the SAT will add a 25-minute written essay, will eliminate the verbal analogy questions, and will expand the math section to include more advanced math such as Algebra II. The complete test will be 35 minutes longer.” Over the years whites have predominantly done better in the SAT’s but does it mean that African Americans or the other ethnic groups’ doesn’t have the potential to do so. Reports show that Black students had consistently scored a little better on the hard questions and a little worse on the simple questions. This is because the essay questions in both the math and verbal section of the test use a more common vocabulary, which is open to a particular group of people coming from a specific cultural background. But on the other hand the hard questions use a rarer vocabulary that is encountered only in academic settings and levels.   

            On the contrary, in spite of having differences between courses and grading standards, high school grade point average (GPA) is still the best predictor of first year college grade, which is all the SAT claims to predict. As a student moves through college, SAT scores become less and less accurate in predicting a student’s future. But with high school GPA and the courses taken can very well forecast bachelor’s degree attainment. This is the only reason why 400 colleges and universities in the United States admit substantial number of applicants without regard to their SAT scores. For example Bowdoin College found that the diversity and quality of its students improved after it made the SAT optional 25 years ago. Admission officer of this school confirms that they have many other ways to deal with differences in high school curriculum and quality other than the SAT.

            The SAT is a mind game and has nothing to do with skills necessary for higher education. It tests a tiny range of techniques by giving you some multiple choice questions and let u choose among four or five options without thinking about any of them. For example a student who wants to be an engineer in the later years doesn’t need to know those vocabulary words that show up in the SAT. But you are forced to learn those big words because they are going to show up often in the analogy section which is a major part of the exam. For example, research show that 40% of reading comprehension items can be answered correctly with reading the passage. Some of the basic skills that you require the most in college such as writing ability, strategic reasoning, and thinking skills are not measured through SAT.

            Standardized testing will not be going away anytime soon because it is one of integral part of our society and any attempt to scrap it would be futile. But still questioning the relevance and necessity of the SAT and other standardized test may be beneficial. Like Professor. Atkinson of University of California was not successful in eliminating the SAT but he has accomplished the monumental task of forcing changes that will make SAT a fairer test. In other words if we have to live in the environment of standardized test then we have to stride forward and ensure that fairness is prevalent to all college attending students.