Reply to WSJ article on more students especially the affluent get extra time on SAT

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]First time I ever saw testing accommodations was in law school, 20 years ago. Another student, nothing special, got all the time in the world to do the exams. No rush. Where I'm writing left handed as fast as I could, cramping, trying my damnedest to get something in on time. I was an LSAT taker who after practicing for a few weeks, realized that I would have to focus on getting answers right rather than answering every question. It hurt and yet it was the only way I could get a good enough score. (I did well, but if I had an extra 15 minutes per section...!)

And here a year later was a kid who got all day to do his test. I didn't understand it. Then it dawned on me that these fancy expensive people always figure out a way to get themselves a win. They never really have to play by the rules. Slow? No need to skip questions or grind it out; the accommodation will fix that for you.

I don't want to denigrate the disabled. But I only saw a need for accommodations during my time among the elites. One more reason to be annoyed at them.[/quote]

I also discovered this during law school. Previously I had not encountered high achievers who were not obviously just sharper and smarter than everyone else. When I was in college, the people with the best grades and highest test scores were the smartest people.

But in law school I learned that a lot of people game the system. Buying stimulants illegally or getting a doctor friend to write them a scrip for ADHD meds, knowing the system well enough to get extra time in exams, recorded lectures, or even have other students take notes for them. I know a woman who claimed carpal tunnel so that the school had to provide her with a "note taker" for all her classes -- so she was able to get a set of lecture notes AND class outlines from another student for every law school class. If you've been to law school, you understand that sitting through lectures and taking notes and then building your outlines before exams is a significant part of the work of law school. Grades are based almost entirely on final exams and exams are written based on classroom lectures and discussion, so having someone else do the work of distilling lectures down for you is a big advantage.

But whatever. I actually learned stuff by listening to classroom lectures, taking my own notes, creating my own outlines. I still remember a lot of that stuff now. I don't have ADHD and have never taken stimulants and don't really want to -- it seems like an unhealthy approach to life if you don't actually need that medication. I have a nice life and a good career and I don't think gaming the system would have gotten me anything better even if it would have made some things easier at the time. In the end I don't really understand what the point of all that is. If law school is too hard for you, just don't go. There are other careers. People are weird and status obsessed though.[/quote]

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