Has a 14-year old unlocked an SAT secret?

[Rojo]

A few years ago, a SAT prep guy did a series of online diaries. His bread-and-butter was taking middle class kids who'd normally score 1000-1200 and getting them up to 1400-1500.

I'm sure there's correlation in that rich kids are going to have better scores than poor ones and rich kids are going to get better grades than the schlub having to get up and work at Burger King.

[dougdirt]

I didn't do any of that prep stuff and didn't find it necessary or particularly helpful. As for being able to afford taking the test multiple times, get a job.

Not everyone has the opportunity to get a job. Just because someone is old enough doesn't mean its possible. For starters, there is a transportation is to and from work, which isn't possible for everyone (especially those without money). Then there is the time aspect of it. Some people have responsibilities at ages that they shouldn't have, but because of the situation that they are living in, do have. For example, when I was in high school I knew a girl who couldn't get a job after school because she had to be there to babysit her younger brother until 8 when her mom got home (if she came home after work). A job was not a possibility for her.

If you aren't a good test taker then you are probably in for some struggles in college since most college grades are primarily based on examination. If you can't handle pressure, college might not be for you because there is a LOT of pressure...

There is a bit of a difference though. You get one chance (some get more) to take this test that is going to make or break you. In college, while exams are a significant chunk of your grade, doing poorly on one isn't going to kill you as you have other opportunities to improve your grade with other things. That isn't the case with the ACT/SAT. You either nail it that day or you don't. There isn't a way to make up for it without taking it again, which isn't an option for everyone.

[Sea Ray]

Standardized tests are definitely a necessary evil. Sure, some kids don't test well but if that's the case then it's likely that they won't test well in a college classroom either.

Life is performing under pressure. I understand the need to see how students perform under pressure. You can't take "pressure" out of life

[*BaseClogger*]

I also imagine it may be possible to apply for a "scholarship" to be able to pay for taking the ACT again if you are unable to afford it...

[15fan]

If we are going to get rid of the SAT / ACT, then should we also get rid of the GRE, GMAT, MCAT and LSAT as a component of a graduate school application?

What about lawyers having to pass the Bar Exam, Accountants passing the CPA exam, Doctors passing their medical board exams, PhDs passing their Comps, etc?

[Rojo]

Doctors passing their medical board exams

Or we gave them out based on longest essay. I really, really, really, really......want to be a doctor.

[Sea Ray]

I didn't know that the SAT was making the students write an essay. I don't think they should do that. I don't want any subjectivity in the SAT.

[15fan]

I didn't know that the SAT was making the students write an essay. I don't think they should do that. I don't want any subjectivity in the SAT.

I'm on the opposite side. Especially in 2010 when all anyone does is text and tweet, I'd kind of like to see that someone aspiring to a college education can string together a couple of properly written, punctuated, and capitalized sentences to form a coherent point.

[Screwball]

Perelman's SAT essay tips are freaking awesome:

• Don't worry about getting facts right. Just write as if you are always correct. Even in your historical example.

• Memorize a few big words that can easily substitute for commonly used smaller words. For example, never use the word bad. Always choose something like "egregious." Instead of many, choose "plethora" or "myriad." You will increase your score by picking two to three and popping them into your essay somewhere. You can even do this when you are finished; go back over your essay and find the word "many" and switch it.

• End with a quotation. It doesn't even have to be correct. Just quote somebody. It's best to memorize two or three famous quotes and just use one to end the concluding paragraph, even if it doesn't make sense. Even if you can't really remember the quote exactly, still quote the person with whatever you can remember.

[Boston Red]

I don't mind the essay portion. It just shouldn't be graded. If a school likes you GPA/SAT combo, then they should read your essay to make sure you're actually capable of putting a couple of sentences together.

[Redsfaithful]

End with a quotation. It doesn't even have to be correct. Just quote somebody. It's best to memorize two or three famous quotes and just use one to end the concluding paragraph, even if it doesn't make sense. Even if you can't really remember the quote exactly, still quote the person with whatever you can remember.

That's terrific.

[The Operator]

I didn't know that the SAT was making the students write an essay. I don't think they should do that. I don't want any subjectivity in the SAT.

If it's anything like the GRE (which I believe it is), the writing section is very separate from the rest of the grade.

The GRE is 1600 points: 800 possible Quantitative, 800 possible Analytical. And then you can get up to a 6 on the writing section.

[kpresidente]

Get rid of college entrance standardized testing. There are many issues I have with them. It puts poor students at a disadvantage who can't afford to take the tests multiple times in order to get a better score, or pay for classes on how to improve their scores or buy multiple books to improve their test scores. Just really bothers me. Teenagers aren't always good test takers. They aren't all good under pressure, and some of them are under serious pressure to do well on these things.

There are solutions to those problems that don't mean "do away with the whole thing." For instance, you could everybody 3 chances to take the tests, all free and paid for, and no more.

The "unfairness" that happens in the system will be far worse if you take away one of the colleges' best tools for evaluating a student. I mean, think about it, why not do away with high school GPA's too? No doubt there's even more imbalances in those than there are in SATs. Anything used as an entrance qualification is going to have flaws, should we get rid of them all? Just pick names out of a hat? Of course not. The colleges have to do the best they can with what they've got.

You're letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

[REDREAD]

This was a known fact with the GRE when I retook it about 5 years ago.

The explanation I read was that overworked, underpaid grad students grade these.
A longer essay, as long as it is coherent, will generally get a better grade.

[Rojo]

I'm on the opposite side. Especially in 2010 when all anyone does is text and tweet, I'd kind of like to see that someone aspiring to a college education can string together a couple of properly written, punctuated, and capitalized sentences to form a coherent point.

I2, FWIW.