USD Magazine, Spring 2002

At USD and most other universities, the SAT is just one of many elements taken into account when deciding whether co admit a student. Nearly 400 colleges - including highly regarded institutions such as Mount Holyoke and Bard - require neither the SAT nor the ACT, the other nationally prominent college admissions exam. Others have de-emphasized standardized rests in their admissions processes. Instead, those schools use expanded applications and per– sonal interviews co fi ll their freshman class. So why all rhe hubbub about scores? "People primarily hear about the very small

vary significantly around the country. Initially tided the Scholastic Aptitude Test and then the Scholastic Assessment Test, it is now officially named just SAT - an evolu– tion critics say exemplifies the debate about exactly what the test measures. According to the College Board, which administers the SAT, the rest evaluates verbal and math abili– ties that are necessary for success in college and life in general. Like USD, most schools rake the big pic– ture into account in the admissions process, all the abilities and talents that cannot be

Despite this, for most high school students the perceived path to happiness has come to resemble a row of dominoes. Carefully set them up - grades, extracurricular activities, talents, community service, recommenda– tions - and they'll all fall neatly in succes– sion, ending with admission to a top-ranked college followed by a great career and a happy life. Miss just one, however, and the whole scenario falls apart. And the SAT has become the most important domino. Taylor Fleming is an

ideal example. A bright, articulate and outgoing high school junior, she's an A student, involved in student government and plays soccer and softball. Someday, she might want a career in sports management or public

The ABCs of the SAT

SAT I - Known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the Scholastic Assessment Test and first offered in 1926, the mostly multiple-choice three-hour exam has two sections, verbal and math, each of which are graded on a 200 to 800 point scale. The test is designed to be independent of high school curricula and is designed to predict first-year college performance. The test is offered about seven times during the school year. .. "~----~- ... SAT II - Once called "Achievement Tests" and also graded on a 200 to 800 point scale, they are one-hour multiple choice exams in specific subjects such as ,, ,, _ math, science, language and English. PSAT - The Preliminary SAT is a practice test and scores are not reported to colleges, however test scores are used to select semifinalists for National Merit Scholarships, a privately financed academic competition that began in 1955. ACT - The biggest competitor of the SAT, the ACT Assessment was founded in 1959 and differs from the SAT in that it is tied to high school curricula. The test, accepted by most colleges, is designed to assess ability to complete college-level work and covers English, mathematics, reading , and science reasoning. Unlike the SAT, students can choose to send only their best or latest scores to colleges.

relations. No matter what she chooses to do, however, she will have the benefit of a college

education. Like nearly all her classmates at Francis Parker School, a private high school just up the street from USD, she's headed for one of the nation's top four-year universities. Taylor's cheerful confidence wanes only when she talks about the SAT. She's got little reason to be fearful - she scored the equiva– lent of 1,360 (out of a possible 1,600) on the PSAT, a practice rest given early in the junior year. Her parents, concerned that so many of her classmates were raking review courses, arranged for an SAT tutor, who spent an hour a week drilling Taylor on SAT questions and administered twice-monthly practice exams. But Taylor says she really "fell in love" with Stanford University, one of the hot schools among her classmates and high schoolers nationwide. Just about everyone in her class will apply to Stanford, with the inevitable result that a good number of them will nor be accepted. Many will try to gain an edge by applyi ng through Stanford's early decision plan (see story on right), a process in which a high SAT score is even more critical. Unlike some of her classmates, however, Taylor says she won't be devastated if she doesn't get into Stanford. Bur she will be dis– appointed. She's already disappointed in the SAT process. "We're all pretty stressed out by the SAT, and it's even worse when we see seniors who worked so hard and scored really well get turned down by colleges," she says. "I'll be happy with a 1,350 or 1,400, but I know

group of elite schools, the ones that receive tens of thousands of applications and there– fore have to put more emphasis on SAT scores," says Stephen Pultz, USD's director of admissions, "and they assume it's that way everywhere." The roots of the SAT go back to the early 1900s, when the newly formed College Board developed a series of essay rests meant to simplify and standardize college admissions. In 1926, the organization introduced the Scholastic Aptitude Test, using a multiple– choice format rhar made ir easier to quantify results. Increased demand for the SAT and other standardized tests resulted in the 1947 formation of the Educational Testing Service, a national organization devoted exclusively to educational resting and research. The rest was, and still is, promoted as a tool that helps college admissions officers compare the intelligence of applicants from different backgrounds, because grading stan– dards and content of high school courses

measured by the SAT. Pultz says the rest is most valuable when considered in conjunc– tion with other facrors such as high school grade point average, academic transcript and types of courses taken, letters of recommen– dation and personal essays.

d while the elite schools (Yale, Harvard, Princeton and their brethren) can demand high SAT scores from their

applicants, there is no evidence rhar attend– ing a less prestigious university will ruin your life. In a 1999 National Bureau of Economic Research report, researchers found that school selectivity, as measured by the average SAT score, doesn't pay off in a higher income later in life. Instead, they said that motivation and desire to learn have a much stronger effect on career success. They call their finding the "Spielberg Model," named for the famed movie producer who was rejected by the USC and UCLA film schools and attended Cal State Long Beach.

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