Reply to The Misguided War on the SAT

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of course more data points are better than fewer.  But the problem with the SAT/ACT is the arms race mentality.  People seem to think there is a huge difference between a 1500 and a 1550 or a 33/34.  There isn’t. The best use of those tests is as a confirmatory point of readiness to gauge GPA, not as a competition in and of itself.  The 4.0 gpa kid with a 1020 might not be really ready for Hopkins. But the difference between the 1400 and 1470 is just noise.

Both those exams test reading comprehension and pretty basic math concepts  in esoteric ways that have not very much to do with actual academic work.  [b]Colleges should decide what they think an appropriate level is for them and just have College Board/ACT to tell them whether the applicant is over or under it.[/b] [/quote]

This is an honest, sane reply. [/quote]

I am really for a threshold approach to SAT/ACT like this for test optional.  Avoids the arms race in scores but gives adequate information to schools (and to students). [/quote]

Why do you keep calling it an "[b]arms race[/b]?"[/quote]

This was my first time posting so I don't keep calling it that--it's not a great analogy but basically just referring to the idea that making SAT a high stakes continuous merit indicator--you end up with people going to great lengths to best the opposition--much like in an arms race between countries.  Nothing wrong with competition, but the time spent prepping for a fairly narrow test could be better spent doing things that will actually benefit the student/community--pursuing interests, working on meaningful academic projects etc. Just like a country not so focused on an arms race can better spend its resources on other valued outcomes. It has distorting effects--distinctions between scores at the high level are not the most meaningful predictors of academic/career success and have increasingly more to do with time/resources spent prepping.  This distorts the test's intended purpose as an indicator of achievement (and/or ability depending on your pov) gained through years of math and reading work in and out of school.

If you view the SAT as a threshold (and at some schools it could be a very high threshold), you are not trying to best the competition with your score, rather to indicate you are capable of doing the work at the intended level.  Your other application dimensions are where you are trying to best the competition and/or demonstrate more personal qualities that help a university build a community.

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