"Don't judge a book by its cover," a quote I always heard when growing up. A new quote that I think fits just the same, "Don't judge a student by their SAT scores." Even though many students do not take the SAT seriously... many do.
Millions of high school juniors and seniors pay thousands of dollars every year to prepare themselves for the test. However, what happens to the students who do not receive above average scores? Sometimes an SAT score is a child's last hope for a successful future. Sometimes they miss getting into a school by 10 points. But most of the time when a child does not reach their goal then their determination is crushed.
Should a child be judged by their SAT scores? If so, what if the student is exceptional but simply does not excel when it comes to taking tests? I firmly believe that there is a large list of standards that an educator can require besides the scores of the "biggest test of our lives". Grades, involvement and attendance are three characteristics that are directly involved with success.
A student is more that an SAT score. Their opportunities should not be diminished because of a test. A student could be the world's next best brain surgeon and they are denied an education because they did not receive an above average SAT score.
I do understand that if the scores were not taken into consideration then getting into college would be much easier but I am not implying that in any way. I just believe that everyone has educational opportunities and no school should be able to deny that based on an overstressed 3 hour test score.
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"A student could be the world's next best brain surgeon and they are denied an education because they did not receive an above average SAT score." This statement could not be more false because the world's best brain surgeon would not receive a below average SAT score. The future brain surgeon would be intelligent in his preparations and failure would not be possible for him.
If anyone prepared well enough for the test, they could receive good scores. However, as you said, many students blow off the tests. These are the people who the test should refuse college entrance too. If they don't care enough to not go party on a Friday night before the test, they should not be looked at for college entrance. SAT scores are a minor factor in college entrance as well (and ACT scores). Usually, they bump you up if you get a good score or keep you neutral, unless the score is pitiful.
I agree with nharris and I disagree. Yeah a brain surgeon would be better prepared but some students prepare for days or months or years and still get crappy scores because they are not good test takers. A brain surgeon could be a bad test taker. That doesn't mean he doesn't know a brain. For gosh sakes a brain is not on the SAT.
That is true that there are definite exceptions to every rule, but then the brain surgeon would have such an outstanding GPA, a challenging curriculum and good AP test scores for biology, chemistry and psychology, so the SAT/ACT score would make no difference.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/nharris1032
Einstein was a high school drop out and his teacher thought he would never amount to anything. Bill Gates was a college dropout. Many of the richiest people in the world didn't graudate from high school. SAT doesn't determine a person's potential. It is proven that the SAT only estimates about 25 % of the sucess of a student in college.
also the SAT is not a IQ test; it is a test about what you learned in high school.