The SAT: Is adversity a fair test or another way to unfairly game the system

For high school juniors and seniors, performing well on the SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test, is crucial for admittance to their school of choice. Colleges and Universities use this exam as a standard to measures students from every part of the country and from every possible socio-economic situation.

The SAT score is very important.

Colleges often set a minimum for an applicant’s SAT score. Scoring below the minimum means acceptance is virtually impossible. Parents often spend large sums of money to have their child be more adequately prepared to take the exam.

Most conclusions say that proper tutoring usually raises an SAT score by 50 to 100 points.

Those that can afford the tutoring do have an advantage to those who can’t. However, with internet testing sites and free sample tests readily available, the advantage may be lessening. Still, issues like low income, poor quality in the high school experience and significant safety or security concerns, do negatively impact the SAT score.

To level the playing field, the College Board, who oversees the exam, plans to assign an “adversity score” to every student. David Colemen, the College Board’s CEO recently wrote that the new addition,