do you consider the SAT a hard test?

[Arachnotron]

<p>

It’s not that it’s a hard test. Without the time constraint, everyone would score upwards of 2000 on every try. But twenty minutes for certain sections seems unreasonable. Seriously, who cares if we can do a math problem thirty seconds faster than someone else? Will that make or break your academic experience at college?

</p>

<ol>
<li>No. Not everyone can get a 2000+ with no time limit; don’t delude yourself. </li>
<li>The idea’s to gauge ability. What better way to do so than to involve the axis of time? </li>
<li>No, but it gives colleges a standardized metric so they can choose who to accept or reject. They NEED a common yardstick. Why not use an IQ test?</li>
</ol>

[ajwchin]

<p>

It’s not that it’s a hard test. Without the time constraint, everyone would score upwards of 2000 on every try. But twenty minutes for certain sections seems unreasonable. Seriously, who cares if we can do a math problem thirty seconds faster than someone else? Will that make or break your academic experience at college?

</p>

<p>Time constraints and other aspects of the testing environment are included in the “difficulty” of the test. Therefore, you cannot make the argument that it is an easy test and the only reason people do so poorly is because of the time limit, because that in and of itself would make it a hard test.</p>

<p>And besides, I agree with Arachnotron that even without the time constraint, there are definitely people who would still perform poorly.</p>

[Astonisher]

<p>I’m going to have to side with Arachnotron a majority of the arguments.</p>

<p>Colleges NEED that common yard stick to compare. GPA’s can’t be used because high schools abide by different rules/practices</p>

[ajwchin]

<p>^ Yup. He’s got it spot on.</p>

[north_face]

<p>All hail arachnatron. Kidding…I’m just jealous of his score :(.</p>

[Bigb14]

<p>^

1. It’s broken up into sections, so it’s the same as finals day, where you have 3 finals in a row
2. You can do that on the SAT as well, hence the idea of preparation
3. No, being a good standardized test taker just means that you’ve studied the test and know what to expect
4. Well, that’s not possible with the SAT. (but you do have an essay )</p>

[diligency92]

<p>but what if there are 2 kids in the same school, and student A has a 2300 SAT but a lower GPA than Student B (who has a 2000 SAT). </p>

<p>which student is in the better position?</p>

[Arachnotron]

<p>Depends on how much lower and what schools.</p>

[J_adoube]

<p>^^^^In a situation like that, if they are both applying to the same school, it will come down to rigor of curriculum, recommendations, and quality of ECs (more or less in that order).</p>

[ajwchin]

<p>It also depends how much the GPA differs by.</p>

[J_adoube]

<p>Rigor of curriculum is what puts GPA in perspective (more so within the same school).</p>

<p>About the test being hard, to paraphrase Gandalf, the SAT is neither easy nor hard, it’s what it is.</p>