If SATs are a good measure of potential in college then all colleges may as well be private institutions in America. The SAT and other standardized tests are just a measure of a person’s ability to retain information long enough to pass a test, which in the current state of public schools in America is all students are taught to do, and a test of that student’s family finances with expensive books, exam prep, and exam vouchers. These tests cannot show a student’s potential as much as a crystal ball can predict the future. A student may not be able to take this exam and may be an excellent student with critical thinking skills unmatched by their peers but without that economic backing.
SATs are the modern day equivalent to educational redlining. Keeping the poor and disadvantaged out of the “party schools” and “Ivy Leagues” of the world, unless those deemed “worthy” enough are brought up from their secondary status by a benefactor.
Many studies have stated the GPA of a student in high school to be a greater indicator of the potential of a student in college, while SATs to be just another metric that holds little value in determination of success. Even further to this point people have returned to complete college many years later that have not taken any SATs and complete their studies just fine.
I personally was not able to afford the time or exam fees for any SAT, and I refuse to be held down by the fact I was not able to take that test. A test does not define myself or any of my peers. My Aunt Kibby did not score well on SATs and was able to graduate last year from an honors program and is now teaching students in public school, in my personal opinion college is the true test of someone’s potential, adding another barrier to entry makes little sense when affording to even think about college is such a challenge.
In conclusion, SATs are little more than a metric to see how well one can regurgitate information, this is the fault of no one except our school system, which tells us high test scores are the only way to get any support from our government for even basic supplies. This is the unfortunate reality of our lives, a test cannot define your life, and never should one let it. Potential comes from many places, and never should a test determine how much one has.