I believe that this question has a bunch of nuance to it because there isn’t a set answer. It can depend on what the applicant is planning to study and the kind of student the college they are applying to is looking for. If the applicant is going into the literary or mathematics field or any other field concerning those two, then I do believe that having a good SAT score will display good potential in those areas. If the applicant were to go into an artistic or historical field, then the SAT wouldn’t matter as much on their application and couldn’t really determine if they’d exceed in their respective field. That being said, it’s not that cut and dry because different colleges analyze the potential of students in different ways. Some want well-rounded students, so despite the applicant not wanting to be an English or math major, the SAT could still reflect the student’s potential in some colleges’ eyes. After all, the applicant will still have to take some core classes like English and math while at the college, so a good SAT score could prove that they would do well in those classes. Some schools are quite the opposite, however, and don’t want well-rounded students. They may want students who display a main passion and focus on the field they want to head into. The SAT score, in that case, would matter significantly for literary and mathematics majors but could matter much less to other majors. Then, some colleges may not even consider the field that the applicant is going into in relation to the SAT. The SAT can be seen as a general exam that just tests students on what they relatively should already know. Algebra and grammar are key components tested for on the SAT. So a good score may just prove to the colleges that the student retained what they were taught in their years of schooling or at least that they spent time preparing or studying. Therefore, they have the to potential to keep learning and do well. Similarly, a low score or even no score could seem like they don’t care or haven’t learned much in school, so they wouldn’t have the potential to succeed at college. Despite all of this, however, there are outside factors that ought to be mentioned. Some students just aren’t good test takers. They may even experience testing anxiety. Others just may not have the time to study and take the test. Some may even experience other issues preventing them from taking the test in person like a disability or a lack of transportation. None of these reasons mean that a student doesn’t have the potential to succeed, at least in my eyes. At the end of the day, the SAT is just one exam. I believe that this sentiment is felt by some colleges as well, as some have opted to go test-optional while others may disagree since they are reverting back to requiring the test. Overall, whether the SAT reflects one’s real potential is very subjective and truly depends on that of who is being asked.