<p>I disagree. The students at the more affluent schools have artificially inflated SAT scores because they are more likely to prep, and SAT-prep is more likely built into their school curriculum. For example, it never occured to my son to take a PSAT in 10th grade, nor did it occur to me to ask about it. </p>
<p>The SAT shows nothing more or less than that the student has scored well on a test. If the student scores poorly and gets good grades, it tells nothing whatsoever about the school: the student could be an extremely able student at a good school who tests poorly; the student could be a hard worker who puts extra effort into classes to do well at a demanding school; or the student could be a smart kid who puts efforts into classes at a school with an educational approach which does not do a good job of preparing kids for standardized testing. </p>
<p>The only way you know whether there is grade inflation at a school is to see a chart showing the grade range at that particular school. Individual SAT scores tell absolutely nothing, especially when we are talking about scores at the level that the elite colleges are looking at.</p>
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The only way you know whether there is grade inflation at a school is to see a chart showing the grade range at that particular school. Individual SAT scores tell absolutely nothing, especially when we are talking about scores at the level that the elite colleges are looking at.
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<p>Will colleges know how to compare a 3.6 from Andover with a 3.6 from a school in deepest TX or LA with median household income that is several thousand dollars less than one year's worth of tuition, R&B at Andover? But a 1400 by a student from either school will still be a 1400. </p>
<p>Nor am I too worried about how many times a student retakes the SAT or how much money parents spent on prep. As I said elsewhere, you can prep for very little monetary outlay. 10RealSATs plus the Xiggi method for free, and you can do just as well as if you'd spent several hundreds of dollars.</p>
<p>This really doesn't have to do with the topic but after reading through post I realized the SAT could be manipulated. You could make a fake ID card for somebody with your name and let them have your admission ticket and they could take the test for you. I realized thats a glaring hole in the system and if I had the money I know its unethical I would get somebody else to take the test for me I know somebody who scored a 2340, could you imagine the implications if a fake ID was created for somebody and they took the test for them.</p>
<p>"Individual SAT scores tell absolutely nothing"</p>
<p>They tell that a student is <em>capable</em> of attaining the reported score. This is <em>especially</em> significant at the high end, where scores can offset a low GPA.</p>
<p>But, of course, the issue here is at the low end. It seems that we agree that the only <em>clear</em> result of making SAT scores optional is to move a school up in the rankings. It doesn't help a candidate to withhold low scores; schools will reasonably assume that missing scores are low (in the candidate's opinion; few high-scorers would withhold them). Schools which practice affirmative action will do so whether or not the scores were submitted.</p>
<p>It could indeed be done. But the likelihood is much less than the likelihood of an essay being heavily edited by someone else or even written entirely by someone else; of ECs being blown out of proportion, conceived or performed by someone else, or reflecting the affluence of a student's famly (e.g. foreign travel or sports that require expensive equipment, fees, etc...). Even grades are unreliable guides to performance as teachers may reward extraneous things such as good behavior, neat presentation, or penalize a student they do not care for (I was teacher's pet and was given breaks that other students did not get, so I know whereof I speak).</p>
<p>The SAT is flawed, but everything else is also flawed. It certainly should never be the sole criterion for evaluating an applicant. But that is not what top colleges do anyway.</p>
<p>LBW
Actually, a friend of mine in New Jersey told me about just such an incident in his local area. A boy who got a perfect score was taking the test for someone else when he was spotted by a girl from his local area. She asked herself, "Why is he retaking the SAT, when he already has a perfect score?" Apparently she also asked someone in authority, because he was found out.</p>
<p>I would think that college admit officers keep a very well informed database on high schools they've visited over the years and know extremely well the type of students the high school produces.</p>
<p>I don't think they're flying blind and based upon their knowledge of the school they feel comfortable ignoring the poor results of a particular SAT/ACT.</p>