<p>Would you?</p>
<p>No, obviously.</p>
<p>Yes, I would.</p>
<p>Certainly not!</p>
<p>I'd care about whether I could make correct inferences from reading passages, solve math problems, and write clearly, so yes.</p>
<p>I don't care about the scores and I won't bother taking the test.</p>
<p>What would the test exist for if not for college stuff?</p>
<p>why would one want to take any exam if it were not required? :D</p>
<p>You know, the SAT optional movement is gaining steam at plenty of liberal arts schools across the country. For applicants at those colleges, this kind of debate has special relevance. Still, most of those applicants probably take the SAT or ACT, if only because they're also applying to schools that weigh standardized tests heavily during the admissions process.</p>
<p>No, there is no point. If you really wanted to take 'tests for fun,' you could buy a 20 dollar book and have 'fun' with 400 pages of material rather than pay the $63.50 for the hunk-a-junk :) (includes int'l fee)</p>
<p>arwen15: why would one want to take any exam if it were not required? </p>
<p>You see majority of students taking SAT IIs and some are applying to unis who don't require it. god knows i'm doing that. even if colleges said that the SAT was not required, i'd still take it and try to do my best on it, because it shows the colleges that you're still willing to do the extra work and you care about college apps that much to do it</p>
<p>Is there a marked increase in applications at colleges that don't require SAT/ACT? Or, is the increase in applications across the board?</p>
<p>By increasing the number of applicants you increase both the number of people that need financial aid and those that do not, while still admitting the same number of people. You end up with a larger pool of paying customers
to choose from. This would work just as well for any university.</p>
<p>Just a thought.</p>
<p>The HUGE majority of colleges that don't require SAT scores are for-profit colleges that will admit anyone "with a heartbeat and a check." Only just a few colleges that were formerly selective at all have gone SAT-optional, and even most of those will still look at your SAT scores if you submit them. All of the colleges that spend more per student than a student has to shell out in tuition payments have some degree of selectivity by SAT or ACT score.</p>
<p>tokenadult - I care about those things too, but I would never take the SAT if it wasn't for colleges, and people wouldn't take it as seriously if they did take it, so I don't see why it's results would be very relavent.</p>
<p>Here's a follow-up question: if colleges didn't care about high school grades, would you? I'd be happy to hear what any of you have to say about the OP's original question or about my follow-up question.</p>
<p>I would, just to see how I'd do.
Just like when people take them in 7th grade. Or the PSAT in 9th or 10th grade. Or even an IQ test, it's very doubtful you'd get a MENSA level score, but people still take them for the sake of curiousity.
I wouldn't take it over and over again though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'd care about whether I could make correct inferences from reading passages, solve math problems, and write clearly, so yes.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that's not what the SAT tests. The SAT tests how well you can take the SAT.</p>
<p>To answer the question: Heck no. I've always thought the SAT was a waste of time.</p>
<p>The reading passages don't really test how well you understand the passages and how well you can read. Because sometimes you understand the passages but you don't know how to pick the right answer from those equivocal choices.</p>
<p>The math section doesn't test how well you know your math. Some people actually get higher marks on the SAT Math IIC.</p>
<p>The writing is perhaps the worst section of all; the essay doesn't test your writing ability.</p>
<p>Why do most colleges require SAT? No idea.</p>
<p>Do you really think someone who gets a low score in reading is a better reader than someone who gets a high score? Or that someone who gets a low score in math is better at math than someone who gets a high score? The grading of the new essay subsection of the writing section, I would agree, is probably the most sketchy aspect of the scoring on the SAT, but even at that, do you really think that someone who gets a 2 on the essay is a better writer than someone who gets a 12?</p>
<p>I don't think I'd care about the SATs if they didn't count for college. I might take them once to see how I did.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The reading passages don't really test how well you understand the passages and how well you can read. Because sometimes you understand the passages but you don't know how to pick the right answer from those equivocal choices
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually to be honest I think the passage questions are usually a great test of how well you understand the passages and how well you read. I don't find the answer choices equivocal. There are always subtle nuances that differentiate A from B from C from D from E, but if you don't notice them, perhaps you don't understand the passages as well as others might. The people who score 800 CR are typically the ones who love to read -- why do you think that is?</p>