<p>Just a thought for discussion. I know you need them to get into colleges, get scholarships, etc. I just wanted to see how good people really think they are at determining academic success. </p>
<p>Not really. I think it measures ability to concentrate, in the CR and Writing sections but besides that I don’t feel like it reflects actual intellect and a person may be very intelligent and competent without statistically high scores. Colleges that stopped requiring test scores to be sent in saw that there was little difference in performance between students who sent in their scores and those who did not</p>
<p>The title of your thread say academic ABILITY, but your opening post says a academic SUCCESS. These are not synonymous. </p>
<p>SAT is one measures academic ABILITY for no prep, single sitting.
For kids who take it over & over & over again w coaching, it is one measure of academic SUCCESS. </p>
<p>.</p>
<p>^Thanks for the correction.</p>
<p>if you score a 1500 on the SAT then your chances of graduating in tough degrees like engineering are low i think.</p>
<p>I think it’s a reasonable measure of your ability to stay focused while doing mountains of work, which will occasionally happen to you in college. The ability to get through lots of work is one predictor of academic success.</p>
<p>The SAT also ballparks your ability to read, write, and do simple math problems. All of these are part of academic ability. Depending on your major, memorizing things (learning writing rules, the way CR questions work, math formulas, etc. could predict how you memorize cell parts, more formulas, etc.) is also an important skill.</p>
<p>With that said, the SAT is far from perfect, and you can certainly make up for a relatively low SAT score with relatively high amounts of achievement in other areas.</p>
<p>@meriks Well I’m not sure what you mean by that. If you get a 1500 it will be hard to get admitted to a decent engineering program. But SAT math really doesn’t measure your math ability, I know people better than me at math who barely get 600 and I know people worse than me at math who get well above 700. The SAT Math is more of a logic test than a math test.</p>
<p>I know, right, @RHSclassof16, I score in the 600s in SAT math but can ace calculus. Explain that one please…</p>
<p>@RHSclassof16 Yes, the Math is more a logic test. But that is what engineering is all about. Being strong at solving book problems is not what i call good at maths. You need intuition and creativity to be a good engineer, otherwise a computer can do it for you. Most people just apply formulas they learned without understanding their in and outs. The SAT not only measures a certain logical skill, but also measures stress control and speed of thought execution.</p>
<p>I am not saying the SAT is the perfect test nor am i saying people who don’t ace the Math SAT are idiots. But i’m saying that people who say they are supposedly “good” in math and can’t go above the 600’s should start questioning themselves a bit more instead of blaming the test entirely. No offense, just my humble opinion.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve never done that well in standardized tests. I honestly think some people are born better at that type of thing than others. One problem is the time limit - I’m good but I’m not necessarily fast. With the time limit I am more prone to make mistakes than if I could have more time to check for stupid errors. (And by 600s, mean 650.)</p>
<p>But to say that math problems don’t require creativity? I don’t know that I would completely agree with that. Some math is pretty much plug and chug, but sometimes getting to that point requires a lot of creativity. Sometimes there are multiple ways to do a problem and it takes creativity to find the most effective way.</p>
<p>Yes. If your school’s average score is, say, 1500 and another school’s average is 2200 it’s pretty obvious which school’s students receive better education and hence, have more academic ability.</p>
<p>@Jarjarbinks23 when you say school, are you referring to high schools or to colleges/universities?</p>
<p>@IRLANDAISE high school.</p>
<p>Put it this way.</p>
<p>Let’s compare an inner-city school in the Southern Bronx and a top magnet school. Certainly, the latter will have much higher academic preparation than the former, and the SAT scores will show a strong correlation</p>
<p>Right, was asking clarification on the word, thanks.</p>
<p>No! Those who are willing to study hundreds, maybe thousands of hours can outscore the natural ability in which the test was designed to predict. The SAT has been gamed, which is why it is changing.</p>
<p>@SamRam
You mean the same type of studying (hundred and thousands of hours) that occurs in college? </p>
<p>It’s not changing into something that is unable or less able to be gamed. The SAT is simply involving harder material, while disregarding the vocab. The people who study hundreds and thousands of hours will still do better.</p>
<p>And by the way, ‘natural ability’? Do you think some people are born drastically different from others in mental prowess (excepting those with mental disabilities)?</p>
<p>If you’re really good at maths you don’t need hundreds of hours of studying to Ace the Maths. Being quick is part of what makes you good at maths…</p>
<p>@Woandering </p>
<p>1)The further you go in college the less the study will be that of pure rote and repetition and the more it will evolve into innovation and creative thought. It will be quite different than studying for the SAT.</p>
<p>2)I disagree that the people who have studied for years to prepare for the SAT, will do better in college. The gifted who study a couple of weekends or not all, (and still score high) will do the best in college. Especially as mentioned above, when creative thought comes into play.</p>
<p>3)Everyone is born the same. For reasons I can’t explain, the same newborns, over years and decades, become gifted in school, sports, the arts, etc. BTW being gifted does not make you better.</p>
<p>@SamRam </p>
<p>You’re right. The SAT doesn’t measure eventual success or achievement. But it does measure, at least part of, your ability to do well at the start of college. Will any sort of test measure long-run achievement?</p>
<p>And I think a lot of people consider themselves gifted who probably aren’t - but then people on CC seem to have a pretty high opinion of themselves in general, too.</p>