The SAT for college applications does not reflect my real potential. While ‘potential’ may mean different things in different contexts, the most basic definition of it is having the capacity to develop something later in life. Potential exists in many forms determined by the real-world application of one’s knowledge.
The SAT has a history rooted in making a test that could measure a student’s academic potential anywhere across the US. During the 1900s, higher education was starting to take off. With universities now getting so many more applications, they needed a way to empirically determine which students were better than the rest. And thus, the SAT was born. But the test was never meant as an IQ test as many attribute it to be. Carl Brigham, the father of the SAT, said that the scores achieved on the SAT were “a composite including schooling, family background, familiarity with English and everything else, relevant and irrelevant. ” This is consistent with many findings today where disadvantaged students such as those in the Black or Latino communities get lower scores than their White and Asian counterparts. In 2020, the average score on the math section of the SAT for Black and Hispanic students was 454 and 478, respectively, while the average score on the math section for White and Asian students was 547 and 632, respectively (College Board).
Further, the SAT is not even the best predictor of college success and one’s potential. According to numerous studies done by institutions such as the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the University of Chicago Consortium, GPA was the most reliable predictor of college success. In a review of the study done by William C. Hiss, Editor Scott Jaschik notes, “[s]o those students with low high school grades but high test scores generally receive low college grades, while those with high grades in high school, but low test scores, generally receive high grades in college. ” This makes sense practically too. Those who apply themselves in school and get high marks in high school have the same drive in college, and vice versa.
On a personal level, all of this is to say the SAT is mostly worthless in my viewpoint. I did well on the SAT – a 1550 – but none of my value and potential as a person derives from this test. From the research I have done into the SAT before and after I took the test, I learned it is a test you can study and game, with the right tutors and a lot of money. My GPA on the other hand – 4.0, is something I take much more pride in because it shows my dedication over a long period to my classes. However, my potential is not purely based on academic scales either. My potential is an amalgamation of my goals and desires; it is dependent on what I want to achieve in my life and what I want to take out of education. Without drive, no one can have any potential. But I have a lot of drive.
In my life, I want my potential to come from myself. Many colleges put labels and numbers on students when students are so much more multi-faceted, and many students have realized this and gotten out of this thought process that the SAT is a measure of their value – but many more have not. The SAT is a test that is as lengthy as it is useless, and it does not measure much outside of wealth and race. The SAT does not measure my real potential.