The SAT: A Good Measurement of College Readiness?

[Mythbuster2000]

<p>Simple question: Is the SAT a good measure of college readiness? Should universities take it into account and to what extent?</p>

[mifune]

<p>

Is the SAT a good measure of college readiness?

</p>

<p>Yes, it is. It provides an accurate statistical gauge of student preparedness and adds to a university’s ability to predict student success beyond the grading evaluations provided by a student’s high school. It also provides a metric independent of other measures to standardize student achievement given the variability of grading patterns among high schools. </p>

<p>

Should universities take it into account and to what extent?

</p>

<p>At the majority of universities, it is safe to say that it is the most widely considered admission factor. But what extent do universities place on the SAT to identify which students will succeed? I am not particularly sure. The precise weight of the SAT on an admission decision is a largely dependent on each university’s specific student evaluation policy.</p>

[jerrry4445]

<p>SAT is a good measure since it measures mathematical and reading/writing skills and also students’ diligence if they study. I think it should be second to GPA since there are some smart students who can do well in a bunch of AP/IB classes but somehow receive lower SAT score than expected. I do agree that there’s could be grade inflation.</p>

<p>However, I find AP exams as better indicators of college success since they are standardized and subject-based. Moreover, it show how much a student study to prepare for it and the AP exam grade shows strong correlation to the college grade of the corresponding subject.</p>

[fignewton]

<p>[This</a> paper](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/sas/research/researchandplanning/pdf/sat_study.pdf]This”>http://www.ucop.edu/sas/research/researchandplanning/pdf/sat_study.pdf) is a bit old but may still be relevant. The paper looked at the SAT, SAT II, and high school GPA as predictors of college success at U of Calif.</p>

<p>The paper found

…strong evidence that students’ scores on the SAT II achievement tests are superior predictors of freshman grades than SAT I scores. If the prediction of college success as measured by freshman GPA is the standard by which admissions tests should be judged, as the College Board and others have emphasized in the vast majority of validity studies, then the SAT II achievement tests are the clear choice on this criterion, according to the UC data.

</p>