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Yeah, a standardized test that can be prepared for in short order via expensive tutors is absolutely a great way to rank applicants, you’re right on the money,

Yeah, a standardized test that can be prepared for in short order via expensive tutors is absolutely a great way to rank applicants, you’re right on the money, which is great because money money money.

willcipriano 3y ago
Compared to the old way[0 - but reversed] it's the best we have. [0]https://tenor.com/view/family-guy-racist-racism-funny-gif-9901625 https://tenor.com/view/family-guy-racist-racism-funny-gif-99...
charlieyu1 3y ago
Compared to hiring a coach who builds the perfect portfolio of extracurricular activities for the kid, for $10k+/year per year of high school. At least poor people actually have some chance when it comes to standardized testing.
- nanidin 3y ago
  I had a friend with a life coach in high school and he was absolutely devastated when he was only accepted to state school. He also hated the extracurriculars he had to endure.
rayiner 3y ago
Criticizing the SAT as being something you can prepare for with “expensive tutors” is old-money WASP bullshit. The test-prep centers in New York City are full of poor Chinese and Vietnamese kids: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/magazine/asian-test-prep-centers-offer-parents-exactly-what-they-want-results.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/magazine/asian-test-prep-.... It’s not that hard in a major city in the US for a family to scrounge up $1,000 or $2,000 one-time per kid. What’s expensive is the kind of extracurriculars that Ivy League schools look at when test scores are deemphasized. The kids in Chinatown don’t live next door to anyone who can get them an internship at an impressive non-profit or NGO, or near college professors who can help them get published. The parents working at a Chinese restaurant can’t invest the time it takes to get a kid to be world class in some instrument or sport.
- lordnacho 3y ago
  > The parents working at a Chinese restaurant can’t invest the time it takes to get a kid to be world class in some instrument or sport. Plus those are explicitly peacocking, in the sense of being a burden on the rest of your life while having very little chance of being useful to you, other than as a flex to get into an elite college. Very very few people make a living of any kind in sports or in music. Having been that Chinese restaurant kid myself I can promise you it would have been an extraordinarily expensive way to get an education, in comparison to just studying the same old academic books.
ThrowawayR2 3y ago
There are plenty of people on HN who grew up in poverty and did well enough on standardized tests through hard study to get into good schools. Why repeat false political propaganda when it's so easily caught?
nottorp 3y ago
What I don't understand is: if this is a standardized national test, isn't school supposed to prepare their students for it? Every time SAT is mentioned it sounds like it's completely separated from US schooling.
- Spooky23 3y ago
  Knowledge is relatively limited. A big part of it is the mechanics of the test. There’s a pattern to the questions. AP tests are similar - a teacher who worked as a grader gives his or her students a massive edge. The norm in school is a grade based on number correct. SAT is a composite score with different weights and treatment of answers. When I took it, an incorrect answer deducted points while a blank answer was neutral. When I was in school, the good students got 1280-1450, and the prep classes would yield 40-100 points in most cases. It’s an optimization exercise. If Johnny can’t read, Kaplan isn’t gonna save him.

willcipriano 3y ago

Compared to the old way[0 - but reversed] it's the best we have. [0]https://tenor.com/view/family-guy-racist-racism-funny-gif-9901625 https://tenor.com/view/family-guy-racist-racism-funny-gif-99...

charlieyu1 3y ago

Compared to hiring a coach who builds the perfect portfolio of extracurricular activities for the kid, for $10k+/year per year of high school. At least poor people actually have some chance when it comes to standardized testing.

nanidin 3y ago
I had a friend with a life coach in high school and he was absolutely devastated when he was only accepted to state school. He also hated the extracurriculars he had to endure.

rayiner 3y ago

Criticizing the SAT as being something you can prepare for with “expensive tutors” is old-money WASP bullshit. The test-prep centers in New York City are full of poor Chinese and Vietnamese kids: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/magazine/asian-test-prep-centers-offer-parents-exactly-what-they-want-results.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/magazine/asian-test-prep-.... It’s not that hard in a major city in the US for a family to scrounge up $1,000 or $2,000 one-time per kid. What’s expensive is the kind of extracurriculars that Ivy League schools look at when test scores are deemphasized. The kids in Chinatown don’t live next door to anyone who can get them an internship at an impressive non-profit or NGO, or near college professors who can help them get published. The parents working at a Chinese restaurant can’t invest the time it takes to get a kid to be world class in some instrument or sport.

lordnacho 3y ago
> The parents working at a Chinese restaurant can’t invest the time it takes to get a kid to be world class in some instrument or sport. Plus those are explicitly peacocking, in the sense of being a burden on the rest of your life while having very little chance of being useful to you, other than as a flex to get into an elite college. Very very few people make a living of any kind in sports or in music. Having been that Chinese restaurant kid myself I can promise you it would have been an extraordinarily expensive way to get an education, in comparison to just studying the same old academic books.

ThrowawayR2 3y ago

There are plenty of people on HN who grew up in poverty and did well enough on standardized tests through hard study to get into good schools. Why repeat false political propaganda when it's so easily caught?

nottorp 3y ago

What I don't understand is: if this is a standardized national test, isn't school supposed to prepare their students for it? Every time SAT is mentioned it sounds like it's completely separated from US schooling.

Spooky23 3y ago
Knowledge is relatively limited. A big part of it is the mechanics of the test. There’s a pattern to the questions. AP tests are similar - a teacher who worked as a grader gives his or her students a massive edge. The norm in school is a grade based on number correct. SAT is a composite score with different weights and treatment of answers. When I took it, an incorrect answer deducted points while a blank answer was neutral. When I was in school, the good students got 1280-1450, and the prep classes would yield 40-100 points in most cases. It’s an optimization exercise. If Johnny can’t read, Kaplan isn’t gonna save him.