OK well, as most people know, in order to get into any university, you have to take the SAT's whether it's the SAT reasoning or subject tests. The alternative is to take the ACT. Honestly, i dont think that these tests actaully test our knowledge about math and language arts. they are timed tests. so, i think they are really testing how much you can do in a certain amount of time. the essay is a 25 minute essay. is it fair to say that a good student can write a clear and well written essay in 25 min? or if the student is allowed more time, can they write an even better essay? in my literature class, the top writers in the class have the hardest time writing timed essays. we are practicing for the advanced placement test next week. but if you give those same students two days to write an essay, they write essays that just blow your socks off. my point is you can't expect students to perform under stress. in the real world, they dont have to perform like that. they are given time. look at the top students in any school. some kids just dont do well on tests. (For example the CASEE)
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I agree that the SAT is seriously flawed, not only because I hate taking it. As far as using it to evaluate students... from my experience, noting my friends' scores, I'd say that a 600+ (per section) was an indication of being a fairly bright individual, and lower than a 500 indicates either a less-able student, or someone who has not yet learned the material necessary to adequately complete the questions. So the SAT is an OK tool for evaluation, in that really terrible SAT scores indicate that something's up. But an arbitrary cut-off in the upper levels is insane, especially as-- get this-- I know a large number of people who have scored far higher on SAT II Math and English tests than on those sections in the SAT I.
The real question is, what's a replacement for the SAT?
As for timed essays: the best essay writers may not crank out a phenom essay in 40 minutes (AP limit, right? or 45...?), but they're not supposed to. The readers are looking for an indication of ability to write phenom essays.