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In college, I have taken math classes above second semester calculus. ... All of those [college] credits should overwhelmingly trump what I can do in a few hour

In college, I have taken math classes above second semester calculus. ... All of those [college] credits should overwhelmingly trump what I can do in a few hours with a pencil and a calculator for something laughable in comparison. Generally, the SAT is administered to high-school students, not college students. It's purpose is to predict the performance of those high-school students, if and when they are in college. The point of any test is to improve predictiveness of outcome. The SAT is a type of social test, and its purpose is to predict a certain social outcome -- student performance in college. Not to say I did not do well on the last SAT exam I took (on the contrary, because the material is so basic), but why I had to spend the money and waste the time to do so in the first place just stinks. The SAT costs less and is faster than testing via college credits. Would you test the inflation-level of tires by driving a car around and measuring its performance (efficiency, road-handling, straight-line traction, smoothness over bumps, road noise, tire-temperature-rise, etc.) because it is cheaper and easier than to "spend the money and waste the time" using a tire-pressure meter instead? The article is spot on when it says that students are spending time gaming the SAT. One way around that might be to give them working-memory and reaction-time/decision-time tests, instead. http://www.google.com/search?q=%22reaction+time%22+jensen+%22g+factor%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22reaction+time%22+jensen+%2... http://www.google.com/search?q=%22working+memory%22+%22g+factor%22 http://www.google.com/search?q=%22working+memory%22+%22g+fac... One of the purest tests of working memory is the Letter-Number Sequencing subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). It consists of simply reordering (in one's head) strings of random letters and numbers. http://www.google.com/search?q=wais+letter+number http://www.google.com/search?q=wais+letter+number

silencio 18y ago
That is my point. I'm not a high school student. But half the colleges I am applying to for junior transfer want an SAT score. When I have already taken a whole ton of college classes, what is the point? I've been told by many people like you that it's used to predict how well someone performs in college..well, they have over two years and dozens and dozens of credits and classes to back that up for me. Yet they STILL want the score. And yes, the SAT/ACT may still serve a purpose for many students, but I believe its importance is overemphasized. Oddly enough, I would prefer something like WAIS to the SAT. Having taken it before, it's vastly more enjoyable (I also spent most of my k-12 education in a gifted school requiring a certain IQ, regardless of what that measures and how useful it is overall.)
- DabAsteroid 18y ago
  When I have already taken a whole ton of college classes, what is the point? Did you take the SAT after you had completed a ton of college classes? [Edit: abridged]
  - silencio 18y ago
    Yup. Had no choice. The second to last time I took the SAT was a few years back when I was still in like junior high and they were offering the one out of 1600. All the schools wanting SAT scores want the new one out of 2400 now. Ergo, I needed to retake it (well, more specifically, take the newer version of the exam) for applications.

silencio 18y ago

That is my point. I'm not a high school student. But half the colleges I am applying to for junior transfer want an SAT score. When I have already taken a whole ton of college classes, what is the point? I've been told by many people like you that it's used to predict how well someone performs in college..well, they have over two years and dozens and dozens of credits and classes to back that up for me. Yet they STILL want the score. And yes, the SAT/ACT may still serve a purpose for many students, but I believe its importance is overemphasized. Oddly enough, I would prefer something like WAIS to the SAT. Having taken it before, it's vastly more enjoyable (I also spent most of my k-12 education in a gifted school requiring a certain IQ, regardless of what that measures and how useful it is overall.)

DabAsteroid 18y ago
When I have already taken a whole ton of college classes, what is the point? Did you take the SAT after you had completed a ton of college classes? [Edit: abridged]
- silencio 18y ago
  Yup. Had no choice. The second to last time I took the SAT was a few years back when I was still in like junior high and they were offering the one out of 1600. All the schools wanting SAT scores want the new one out of 2400 now. Ergo, I needed to retake it (well, more specifically, take the newer version of the exam) for applications.