It's been two years since this was relevant to me, but hearing about you-know-what cancelling SAT and ACT administrations made me think of this again...
I'm not disputing that wealthier kids have an advantage, but pretty much every reason also applies to GPA. I mean, teens who have part-time jobs obviously can't spend as much time studying and doing work for classes as those who don't have to, and tutors are even more suited for academic material than the game-like skills for the SAT/ACT. So why's GPA considered the holy equalizer and not being made optional en masse? And that's not even getting into all the extracurriculars rich kids can afford to do...
Even more, you can pretty easily increase your score without prep classes.
Again, I know wealthy kids have an advantage with the SAT, but it's no greater than what they have with GPA and extracurriculars.
I'm not disputing that wealthier kids have an advantage, but pretty much every reason also applies to GPA. I mean, teens who have part-time jobs obviously can't spend as much time studying and doing work for classes as those who don't have to, and tutors are even more suited for academic material than the game-like skills for the SAT/ACT. So why's GPA considered the holy equalizer and not being made optional en masse? And that's not even getting into all the extracurriculars rich kids can afford to do...
Even more, you can pretty easily increase your score without prep classes.
I went from a 1320 on the 2016 PSAT to a 1530 on the October 2017 SAT. My study plan? Eight practice tests downloadable for free from the College Board site, about ten hours of free official Khan Academy prep, and sitting for three official administrations costing $57 each ($65 now, but still). While my final score wasn't the highest in my ultra-competitive high school, I improved more than anyone I knew, many of whom took $1k prep classes.
This prep was already available three years ago, yet the whole "test-optional" trend has only accelerated since then.
This prep was already available three years ago, yet the whole "test-optional" trend has only accelerated since then.
Again, I know wealthy kids have an advantage with the SAT, but it's no greater than what they have with GPA and extracurriculars.