4 ms·

> Any kid can get a used copy of an SAT prep book for cheap and get similar results to a rich kid getting private test tutoring. I would say the environment, s

> Any kid can get a used copy of an SAT prep book for cheap and get similar results to a rich kid getting private test tutoring. I would say the environment, social/parental expectations, exemplars within family/friends, peers ect matter more than a book. Talented poor kids acing SAT by reading a cheap book is stuff from the movies.

ren_engineer 5y ago
only way to effectively end that would be to have government seize all children upon birth so every child has an identical environment growing up. The fact is a standardized test is far less biased than the metrics they will use to replace them. That's the reason they were created in the first place
ekam 5y ago
My sibling and I are were like this and we were definitely not the only ones. You’re out of touch if you think this just stuff from the movies.
echlipse 5y ago
There are many such examples in the real world. That's not stuff from the movies. I don't think these things get reported in US but in India we see this in the news all the time. You can make a generic google search[1] and find tons of such people. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=poor+family+child+tops+exam+india https://www.google.com/search?q=poor+family+child+tops+exam+...
- naravara 5y ago
  If it's being reported in international media I would guess it's still newsworthy enough to not be a regular occurrence. Like India is huge so you'll find a steady stream of events that are common enough to be frequent in absolute terms, but still unusual in proportional terms.
- dominotw 5y ago
  This doesn't counter my point through. From the first link[1] > "I could not study because of financial problems, so I thought I must send my children to school and wipe out the darkness from their lives," > "I got tremendous support from my school teachers," he said. This is exactly what i said. Environment of achievement is more important. "poor" doesn't mean just lack of financial resources. you cannot simply overcome lack of parental and social investment and care by reading a SAT book. > I would say the environment, social expectations, exemplars within family/friends, peers ect matter more than a book. 1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32791175 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32791175
- MisterBastahrd 5y ago
  There aren't enough to be statistically significant, which is why they are being reported in the media.
  - simplestats 5y ago
    I think every school, has its "smart kids" who define their identities by their academic achievement, and who seek to ace every test. It's their way of standing out and being special so they try extra hard to keep it that way. Unfortunately they often tend to be introverts which colleges want less than overachievers in other areas. Except for the science/technology departments, who were probably overruled by other departments if decisions like abandoning test scores are made.
stuff4ben 5y ago
Yeah, no. I took the SAT back in the day and scored horribly. Bought a SAT prep book, worked through it during lunch and brought my score up 300 points in 6 months.
gmadsen 5y ago
while rare, thats exactly how I got in a good school
BadCookie 5y ago
Add me to the list of counterexamples to your claim. While my family was more lower-middle-class than poor, I was (evidently, according to the financial aid office) the poorest person in my graduating class. And my SAT score was likely the reason for that. (I increased my score by 200 points to a perfect score using practice books.) I was also admitted to Harvard but didn’t attend because of the insufficient (at the time) financial aid that was offered.
- dominotw 5y ago
  > I increased my score by 200 points to a perfect score using practice books. what motivated you to do this at the time ? Also, I never said its not possible to do it with practice books. > I would say the environment, social/parental expectations, exemplars within family/friends, peers ect matter more than a book. my point was the word "more" in that sentence.
  - Erik816 5y ago
    What motive would you need beside "a higher score gets me into better schools"? Surely someone smart enough to get a perfect SAT score can figure that out pretty easily.
    - dominotw 5y ago
      I guess what i meant was why gp had this motivation while their peers didn't, what is the difference.
      - BadCookie 5y ago
        Late replying, but I readily admit that supportive parents and a school subculture that valued academics were both factors. I didn’t mean to suggest that I single-handedly pulled myself up by my bootstraps. But the SAT was the main path I had to stand out in applications as a public-school-educated person from a rural place you’ve never heard of.
      - maeil 5y ago
NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
I did it
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

ren_engineer 5y ago

only way to effectively end that would be to have government seize all children upon birth so every child has an identical environment growing up. The fact is a standardized test is far less biased than the metrics they will use to replace them. That's the reason they were created in the first place

ekam 5y ago

My sibling and I are were like this and we were definitely not the only ones. You’re out of touch if you think this just stuff from the movies.

echlipse 5y ago

There are many such examples in the real world. That's not stuff from the movies. I don't think these things get reported in US but in India we see this in the news all the time. You can make a generic google search[1] and find tons of such people. [1] https://www.google.com/search?q=poor+family+child+tops+exam+india https://www.google.com/search?q=poor+family+child+tops+exam+...

naravara 5y ago
If it's being reported in international media I would guess it's still newsworthy enough to not be a regular occurrence. Like India is huge so you'll find a steady stream of events that are common enough to be frequent in absolute terms, but still unusual in proportional terms.
dominotw 5y ago
This doesn't counter my point through. From the first link[1] > "I could not study because of financial problems, so I thought I must send my children to school and wipe out the darkness from their lives," > "I got tremendous support from my school teachers," he said. This is exactly what i said. Environment of achievement is more important. "poor" doesn't mean just lack of financial resources. you cannot simply overcome lack of parental and social investment and care by reading a SAT book. > I would say the environment, social expectations, exemplars within family/friends, peers ect matter more than a book. 1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32791175 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32791175
MisterBastahrd 5y ago
There aren't enough to be statistically significant, which is why they are being reported in the media.
- simplestats 5y ago
  I think every school, has its "smart kids" who define their identities by their academic achievement, and who seek to ace every test. It's their way of standing out and being special so they try extra hard to keep it that way. Unfortunately they often tend to be introverts which colleges want less than overachievers in other areas. Except for the science/technology departments, who were probably overruled by other departments if decisions like abandoning test scores are made.

stuff4ben 5y ago

Yeah, no. I took the SAT back in the day and scored horribly. Bought a SAT prep book, worked through it during lunch and brought my score up 300 points in 6 months.

gmadsen 5y ago

while rare, thats exactly how I got in a good school

BadCookie 5y ago

Add me to the list of counterexamples to your claim. While my family was more lower-middle-class than poor, I was (evidently, according to the financial aid office) the poorest person in my graduating class. And my SAT score was likely the reason for that. (I increased my score by 200 points to a perfect score using practice books.) I was also admitted to Harvard but didn’t attend because of the insufficient (at the time) financial aid that was offered.

dominotw 5y ago
> I increased my score by 200 points to a perfect score using practice books. what motivated you to do this at the time ? Also, I never said its not possible to do it with practice books. > I would say the environment, social/parental expectations, exemplars within family/friends, peers ect matter more than a book. my point was the word "more" in that sentence.
- Erik816 5y ago
  What motive would you need beside "a higher score gets me into better schools"? Surely someone smart enough to get a perfect SAT score can figure that out pretty easily.
  - dominotw 5y ago
    I guess what i meant was why gp had this motivation while their peers didn't, what is the difference.
    - BadCookie 5y ago
      Late replying, but I readily admit that supportive parents and a school subculture that valued academics were both factors. I didn’t mean to suggest that I single-handedly pulled myself up by my bootstraps. But the SAT was the main path I had to stand out in applications as a public-school-educated person from a rural place you’ve never heard of.
    - maeil 5y ago

NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago

I did it

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]