<p>Take the tests, get your score. What you get is what you get. I'm not hating on those who get a book or whatever and study a couple times at home, but I cannot stand people who take classes that allow them to get perfect formulaic 12s on essays.</p>
<p>Test prep defeats the purpose of STANDARDIZED testing; it is a major reason why there is a definitively economic slant to SAT test results. The way I see it, the test prep business is compromising the integrity of testing.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Just go with the system</p>
<p>get what you want...and chill....</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we live in a world where high test scores can make the difference between getting accepted and getting rejected, and it would be a major cause of regret if we knew that we didn't get into a dream school because we didn't want to improve test scores. That, combined with the fact that a test like the SAT is very coachable, means that the SAT doesn't really test intelligence in the first place, but "reasoning" (like the name implies). If someone can afford to prep and is willing to put in the effort, they should be rewarded. For those who can't afford it or are in a situation where they don't have the time, then the admissions committee should look at their score in that context. (After all, most affluent or middle-class people can afford test prep, and that's the context they'll be considered under).</p>
<p>Goldshadow, that's clear BS. What about at need-blind schools? So there are no differences on the apps between those students of lower incomes and those of higher incomes, how is an adcom to distinguish between an applicant who's had prep and one who hasn't?</p>
<p>And is every middle-to-upper-class applicant now EXPECTED to have prep, just because he can afford it? Ludicrous.</p>
<p>i dont think you need to bring ludicris into this one.</p>
<p>Students of lower income/socioeconomic status tend to have lower scores, and vice versa. One way a college could tell is by the high school they come from and its profile, or their essays, or simply knowing the area they come from.</p>
<p>Wonderful, more stereotypes.</p>
<p>And have you considered that part of the REASON for the economic disparity in scores is test prep?</p>
<p>It's not a stereotype, studies and surveys have shown it tends to hold true.</p>
<p>Estimating one person's income based on the average at his high school is certainly a stereotype of the worst sort. What if a lower-income student is on scholarship at a generally-wealthy-inhabited private HS... should his non-prepped SAT scores be weighted down simply because it is assumed he COULD have taken prep? Again, ludicrous.</p>
<p>I don't think it's TERRIBLY unreasonable for even a poor kid to shell out 20 bucks for a blue book / book of 12 tests.</p>
<p>And it's not like people who take the more expensive SAT classes miraculously get a boost...they have to study and work hard to benefit from it. IMO taking a class and studying hard from a $20 book can get you the same results, but taking the class just forces you to study. Where there's a will, there's a way.</p>
<p>And even if you disagree, fine, the system sucks. But there's nothing neither you nor I can do about it.</p>
<p>Maybe you don't think it's terribly unreasonable for a poor kid to spend $20 on test prep, but that $20 could mean the difference between eating and going hungry for some people.</p>
<p>And as to whether or not we can do anything about it, I see at least two solutions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Start a volunteer/charity organization providing test prep to students who can't afford it. Yes, it would be a lot of work. But you hear about similar things being done, where a high school kid gets national attention for taking up a cause and actually doing something very, very big about it.</p></li>
<li><p>To paraphrase the anti-drug slogans, "Just say NO to test prep." Stop obsessing over it, and more importantly, stop encouraging others to do so. Do what gradatgrad says: "Just take the test and get your score." If you're that concerned with test prep, I would hope that you put the same kind of effort into your classes, essays, and all that. That will show. In fact, take the time and energy you would have spent on test prep, and put it into something else that you actually enjoy. Join the math team. Learn to play an instrument (or a second, or a third). Whatever. There are better ways to spend your time than on test prep.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm sorry, I know some moderately poor people and if they REALLY tried, they could scrape together $20 over time.</p>
<p>Hmm. I'm not necessarily wasting my life doing test prep. Prep alone has raised my score around 200 points and taught me great techniques. Besides, with some self study and only about 20 bucks for a CB book, I'm sure ANY person could do really well. </p>
<p>Besides, if you can't buy the book, sit at whatever bookstore sells it and read it from there, if you have to. </p>
<p>I don't see test prep as an unfair advantage to those that can't afford it (I'm assuming that a test prep class doesn't really do that much more than the CB Blue Book, which I really don't think it does). I instead see test prep as a means of bringing out your full potential while taking the test by employing any technique you learn. If the CB was that crazy about standardization and believed in 'no-prep' to maintain that tenet, then why would they sell their own book, and provide excellent strategies and prepation opportunities? Money, maybe, but the test prep their book offers is very, very good.</p>
<p>The book cannot offer actual certified SAT essay graders who will sit there and score each practice essay you write telling you exactly what you need to do to get a 12.</p>
<p>Yes, one of the >$1,000 programs my friends are in has this.</p>
<p>And don't think I'm bitter about this because I got a low score. My scores are more than adequate. It just irks me when I see people with equal scores (ESPECIALLY with high writing scores) that I know have been garnered through ridiculous test prep.</p>
<p>And that "ridiculous test prep" will probably help them with admissions. (Because before doing it, their scores would have been lower... not everyone is naturally good at taking the SATs like you are. Most of the people on CC, myself included, are good standardized testers, but most people aren't, and that test prep helps them get better scores).</p>
<p>And you're OK with that? You're OK with someone being able to raise their scores to equal yours just because they have $1,000 more to waste than you do?</p>
<p>GoldShadow, you make a good point. Some of us just test well--myself included. I have to admit, I don't see anything wrong with test prep being used to correct disparities in people's test-taking ability. However, this does leave two problems:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The economic issue. Just because test prep is available doesn't mean everyone who's not good at taking tests can instantly raise their score. You have to be able to pay for test-prep materials.</p></li>
<li><p>It's clear (to me, anyway) that test prep is not just being used by those who don't test well. People are seizing the opportunity to do "ridiculous test prep" even if they don't need it. These people won't settle for just being good at taking tests; they feel they need to be the BEST. The mentality (as I see it) goes something like, "I'm good at taking tests, but there are other people out there prepping like crazy to beat me. If they beat me, I won't get into [insert school here], which will then ruin my life. Thus I better get prepping." It's a vicious cycle.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>SAT is supposed to test your the knowledge/skills you already have. thus no need to prepare. </p>
<p>yet people do....</p>
<p>If people prepare they raise their score and make themselves look more able than they are, then. </p>
<p>The fact is, college adcoms don't trace records and make sure you took the test w/o prep, they just see your scores for each test.</p>
<p>
[quote]
And you're OK with that? You're OK with someone being able to raise their scores to equal yours just because they have $1,000 more to waste than you do?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hmm, it's very possible that I'm a little bit special in the head, but I could personally care less how high the next guy's score is, or if he had money that I didn't to raise it. I care about my score and making it as good as I can, if that makes any sense. I just don't really think about the other guy.</p>
<p>Right, but someone who can raise their scores through test prep will lower your percentile, thus "lowering" your scores in the eyes of colleges, or at least making them more average.</p>