Is this coming from a different place by the sort of person who has good-but-but-top grades and top standardized test scores, but thinks they deserve a look by

Is this coming from a different place by the sort of person who has good-but-but-top grades and top standardized test scores, but thinks they deserve a look by elite universities? However, they can't say that so they point to a theoretical disadvantaged student who is somehow elevated by taking the test? Fundamentally, the question is whether the SAT does what ETS wants you to believe it does, that it provides an objective assessment of a high schooler for college admissions. The claim is a correlation to the first year grades. Beyond that, it's mainly correlated to IQ and social class (professional class scores best IIRC). Contrast this with the situation in other countries that rely heavily on testing, such as Ireland. As I understand it, the subjects are tested and the test grade is used instead of subjective markers of academic performance. Students are allowed to choose their university course based on priority derived from these test scores. This seems like a much more likely way for a poor Irish kid to arrive at Trinity college than for Harvard to notice and pluck out a poor American kid, if they even bothered applying.