Abolish the SAT? Let’s Render It Irrelevant Instead

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This article in the New York Times talks about the increasing fuss over the role of SAT scores in college admissions.

What can I say about this issue? It’s hot, hot, HOT. And though some choose to focus on the test’s failure to predict college success or its inherent unfairness, that’s not really my stance.

My premise? It’s simply that the SAT is big business and it’s become a whole lot more about making money for the testing company (and those who offer courses and materials to prepare for the test) than it is about assessing students’ abilities and college readiness.

It’s unnecessary. It’s attached to a whole lotta hoopla. It’s, quite frankly, become tedious.

But I’m not saying we need to abolish it. I don’t have the energy or patience to push for that.

Instead, I’m more of a grassroots kinda person. You see, I’d much rather help a huge group of students become informed (through my book and other sources) and choose to skip the test completely. If they render the test irrelevant by going on to college and doing well in whatever they choose to study, well, that’s far more satisfying than going through the process of proving that it needs to be abolished.

Abolish the SAT? It’s an option. I prefer to laugh at the absurdity it has become and choose to avoid it altogether. Let’s treat the SAT as, say, a technique that was once all the rage and is now quite appalling, the butt of jokes.

Like maybe using leeches to draw out the impurities in our blood.

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Filed under SAT, college entrance exams, standarized testing