The SAT is a joke

Test Preparation
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<p>Aren't colleges looking for motivated and bright students? Does it really matter how somebody gets a 2100? It says a lot about the person if they could naturally score that high, and it says a lot if they were dedicated enough and cared enough to work hard to get that score.</p>

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<p>I'm motivated, I'm dedicated, I would kill to get into JHU.</p>

<p>I studied so goddamn hard for the test, I wasted 1000$ on a class, I bought individual books for CR, M, W. I bought about three books of tests. And I did them all, I finsihed every test, I read everything. I made flashcards, I read the flashcards. I studied insanely.</p>

<p>But I got a 1720.</p>

<p>Why? I freaked out during the test, I stressed. Its not a measure of your skills, because I knew everything on that test- because I studied. But I became so nervous and ****ed up.</p>

<p>Thats why I hate the SAT, you can study as much as you want - but if you can't keep your nerves under control, then you're dead.</p>

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<p>tinas: First, I'm sorry to hear that. :(</p>

<p>However, stress control is one of the skills tested on this exam, and it is in fact a skill you need in college - especially in exams where exams count for a significant portion of marks.</p>

<p>If you can't keep the stress under control on a test which is so important, you will most likely have some troubles with stress in college.</p>

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<p>HAHAHAHAH</p>

<p>i can't say i agree with all your cynicisms about the SAT's, but I can tell you that you're not alone here in your train of thoughts..</p>

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<p>I'm sure tinas can keep her stress under control, but when so much emphasis is put on one exam that no one will care about after you enter college, it gets a little harder to do.</p>

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<p>and now, i won't get into my dream school. all because of a stupid four hour test i could've aced.</p>

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<p>Haha...I know no one else agreed with floyd, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that I think that the SAT is a pretty awful concept as well. I mean, I understand what its purpose is, it's trying to assess people's intelligence based on some standardized questions. Good enough. But it really doesn't do it accurately.
First of all, some people aren't very good at taking tests, in which case the SAT doesn't represent a person's knowledge (contrary to popular belief, test-taking ISN'T as important in life as it seems to be right now).
Also, it is such a long test. It's completely irrational to think that any adolescent is going to perform to the best of their ability while concentrating for 4 hours. 4 hours WITHOUT snacks (or even water with some proctors). Ah! The proctors are the worst. When I took the SAT my proctor would not let me use a watch to keep track of time and wouldn't let us have water. *****es!
AND, students from low-income areas or whose first language wasn't english (or situations similar to these) are disadvantaged when taking the SAT. You really can't argue that. If a student performs poorly on the SAT because their school hasn't prepared them does not at all mean that they're not intelligent. And if they don't speak english well, you can understand how taking the test would be really difficult.
Plus, you know when you get your scoresheet back in the mail and you look over all the questions you got wrong and think: "Wow, what an idiot. I accidentally marked the wrong letter," or: "I KNOW that answer. I should have gotten that right on the test?" How could those questions have assessed your intelligence?? Boo hiss. It just shows your ability to take a test (which isn't really that important)...and not even! Some people get fives on all their AP test and then don't do well on standardized tests like the SAT.
Anyway, I'm already in college. I took the SAT and ACT and they got me where I needed to go. So I'm not whining. I'm just stating my opinion.</p>

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<p>I do better on longer tests. Once I'm in the zone on something, I don't get answers wrong. I've taken the test twice, and never gotten a question wrong after the first 4 sections. I like the lenght.</p>

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<p>if you can ace it, do it! I also got a rather crappy score but that's my fault... unless collegeboard has screwed it... a standard is standard... follow it or be left out!!!</p>

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<p>Eliza, why is 4 hours particularly bad? At my community college, finals for most classes are 2 hours each, all within a few days. Surely you have to deal with similar. And as far as proctors are concerned, well, many college professors have different policies regarding exams - my physics professor does not allow calculators, for example. If test-taking <em>alone</em> is preventing someone from getting even a decent SAT score (whatever "decent" means), then maybe that person should be carefully evaluating whether a very difficult college is right for him or her, regardless of whether the SAT is unfair or immoral or whatever.</p>

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<p>It isn't trying to assess intelligence, for the nth time. That's why SAT doesn't stand for anything any more. It's meant to test your readiness for college - which in certain ways it does.</p>

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<p>No, test taking is just as important as it seems right now, until you get out of university. Then it isn't as important.</p>

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<p>Everyone who takes the test should have the maturity to sit through it. Otherwise, maybe they aren't ready for college. Frankly, the length of the test isn't that much of an ordeal really. You just keep concentrating, and it goes by in a flash.</p>

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<p>And back to the main point, where we talked about how the SAT doesn't assess intelligence. It assesses readiness for college. And frankly, if a school hasn't prepared a candidate well because that candidate is underprivileged, then that sucks, but the fact that they do badly on the SAT probably is an accurate predictor of their performance in college. Like it or not, poor people as a whole do worse on EVERYTHING educational-testing related - since education is a function of socioeconomic status partially. Just because the SAT doesn't reflect that doesnt mean it's discriminatory - and everything I just said goes for ESL students as well.</p>

<p>As for your last paragraph, the SAT doesn't just assess test-taking skills. People hate to admit it, but there is a correlation between performance on the SAT and performance in college, or else no one would use it (and the fact that some colleges don't use it doesn't fully counter this point).</p>

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<p>Oh my god! That's so stupid! It really does not test readiness for college. You're probably already in college, since you seem to know how important this test is in university life. What SAT skills are you using at your college? The endurance to take a ridiculously long test? The ability to properly use the word "archipelago" in a sentence? </p>

<p>And I really don't know what college you go to, but here we don't ever talk about the SAT. And test-taking is definitely NOT as important as it's cut out to be. Work, participation, ability to read, ability to talk to your peers and professors...that's really what you need to know. Plus, taking a midterm or final in a course is so vastly different from taking the SAT. First of all, it's knowledge worth knowing and it's probably actually going to be important in your life. I see plenty of people who got 1800s on the SAT and are doing very well. And at the same time I see people who got 2390s who should probably go back to high school. I did very well on the SAT and I feel like it did very little for me (besides getting me to college) and I think many would say the same. </p>

<p>I hope everyone else will at least admit that there are so many better ways to gauge whether or not someone's "ready for college." Even the college board is thinking about finding a different way to do so.</p>

<p>It's just amazing that even after people have taken the SAT and have gotten into college, they still believe that the test is important.</p>

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<p>"I hope everyone else will at least admit that there are so many better ways to gauge whether or not someone's "ready for college." "</p>

<p>Care to name a few?</p>

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<p>Actually, I am a duel-enrollment high school senior. I am taking freshman-level physics & calculus.</p>

<p>"Work, participation, ability to read, ability to talk to your peers and professors...that's really what you need to know."</p>

<p>I'm not saying that those other traits aren't important (it's because of them that I've become very involved with the physics department at my CC)... but then again, test taking IS an important skill. It's one of the ways that you demonstrate a grasp for knowledge. I imagine that you got into college because you demonstrated an ability to test well, AND showed the other qualities you listed through, for example, essays.</p>

<p>By the way, I'm no fan of the SAT myself, and I think the College Board should put more emphasis on the fact that the SAT - for many people - absolutely has to be studied for, just like any other test. Also, as you point out, the scope of the SAT is quite limited. In fact, some of the most intelligent & otherwise astonishing people I know (one of whom is at a HYPS now) have SAT scores which would make most CCers gasp (I'm talking sub-700, sub-600, even sub-500). Then there are also limitations inherent to the scantron format; every professor I've encountered will give significant partial credit on exams if the student demonstrates understanding, even if the answer is wrong.</p>

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<p>Good of you to knock two of the skills used for the SAT off the list. I was thinking that the more important ones are:</p>

<p>Skills in being able to write lucidly and directly
Critical reading and interpretation skills
Concentration (so you don't flag after such a long time being tested)
Vocabulary (yes, much as people hate it, it's important - not to be able to use ridiculously obscure words, but those words aren't on the SAT, and if you think they are, your vocabulary sucks. fyi, archipelago is not obscure, nor is it difficult to use in a sentence)</p>

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<p>Firstly, I don't go to college (I'm in high school). Secondly, where did I say anything about how much the SAT was talked about? Thirdly, why exactly does it matter?</p>

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<p>Ability to read... gosh, that sounds remarkably like something tested on the SAT... Critical Reading maybe? No, it couldn't be, otherwise you wouldn't be listing it as something you need in college. Oh wait, you just did.</p>

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<p>So you've given one reason, which really isn't a reason - since most finals actually won't be important in your life, unless you happen to intend to go into a career that uses exactly the topics tested on that exam. So that argument is fallacious.</p>

<p>Care to give any other real reasons?</p>

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<p>Yes, there are better ways. That is why most of the better schools put more of an emphasis on things like academic record, ECs, personal qualities, etc. than on the SAT. That does not mean the SAT is worthless or flawed, though. It's a component of an applicant's profile, like so many other things.</p>

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<p>There we go making assumptions again... you should probably make less of them, and try making some actual coherent arguments instead. :)</p>

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<p>;) but this has to be longer than 10 characters...</p>

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<p>1of42, are you in love with the SAT or something?</p>

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<p>It's not so much that I'm in love with the SAT so much as that arguments that aren't coherent irk me. I'll debate anything if I think there's a fallacious argument being made - that's just who I am. Right now it happens to be this debate about the SAT. ;)</p>

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<p>Fallacious! Someone looks like he/she's been studying up SAT words.</p>

<p>Salacious. Mmm.</p>

<p>That aside, I think the SAT isn't -that- big a deal. It's not like it's drastically different from any other test. It's just longer, more "comprehensive" and etc. You can spend your time studying for it like for any other test, albeit the study period may be longer. Motivation is a personal issue. It's ridiculous to blame it on the test.</p>

<p>I realize some schools may not be as good in teaching, but honestly, what do you need to know about the SAT that needs to be taught in school? There's so many prep books out there that after enough practice, well, you shouldn't have that much trouble getting a decent score. The internet + books are all you really need.</p>

<p>As for your first few points, I'll agree [though I may have misread them]. There are idiots in this world not fit to be doing what they are doing. It's just something everyone has to deal with.</p>

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<p>i just want to tell you i pretty much feel like the biggest dumba$$ on earth after reading that, considering i already smacked myself several times for getting such a bad score on the SAT even though i have a 4.0+ gpa..damnit, but i have to say this was the funniest post i have read in a long time</p>