Scholastic Aptitude Test
The Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, is a test given to gauge knowledge and reasoning ability for high school students wishing to go on to college. It is one of many tools used to determine college acceptance. In the past few years, some schools have moved away from usage of SAT scores as a qualifier for admissions, either allowing for the alternative ACT test score, or not requesting the scores of any standardized testing.
Over the years average scores on the test steadily declined, causing more than one realignment of the scoring criteria. The test used to have a section for math and a section for English. A perfect score was an 800 for each section, for a maximum score of 1600. The lowest score possible was a 200. Earlier in the history of the SAT, scores could include any number within the range of 400 to 1600, but this changed to be rounded off to the tens place, so the next highest score after a 430 would be a 440.
The most recent SAT has divided into 3 sections, breaking off a writing section from the English side so the three topics are now math, critical reading, and writing. A perfect score is now 2400.
The SAT exam is developed by Educational Testing Service and administered by the College Entrance Examination Board, both non-profit organizations.
More than 800 four-year colleges do not require the SAT or the ACT for admission.[1]
Dumbing Down the Test
The SAT is periodically dumbed down, such it becomes increasingly easy in order to accommodate underachieving students, such as removing analogies in 2005 and penalties for wrong answers in 2014. It thereby becomes nearly impossible to differentiate students at the high end of the spectrum:[2]
| “ | Thus, at least half of Harvard students’ SAT math scores lie in the narrow 10-point range between 790 and 800, well within the SAT’s standard error of measurement, so that the SAT in effect says they scored the same. | ” |
See also
- GRE (Graduate Record Examinations test)
