SAT

:Sometimes confused with SATs or sats, which are in the UK.
The SAT (formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test) is a United States national standardized test invented solely to denigrate high school students by giving them scores based on how well they picked a random answer in a multiple choice exam. It used to consist of two multiple guess sections — English and Mathematics. With the addition of a Writing section in 2005 (now optional), students can now feel smarter than their parents when comparing scores — since each section is scored from 200 to 800, the "old" maximum score was 1600, while now it is 2400.
The SAT has changed names over time. In 1990, it was realized that the SAT was in no way an "Aptitude" test measuring intelligence, and so it was changed to the "Scholastic Assessment Test." Three years later, the College Board (which runs it) decided it couldn't even claim that much, and so the letters no longer mean anything.
A similar competing test, that is also largely irrelevant to success in life and academia, is the ACT. (The ACT originally stood for "American College Testing," which was innocuous enough, but also now is simply the letters.) It contains four sections (English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science), and colleges give heavy weight to this test, despite the criticisms.
==Reliability==
Studies vary regarding SAT scores and predictions of future success. Nearly 1,200 universities and colleges in the U.S., including the University of Chicago, have made test scores optional for applicants. 
Some have argued that succeeding in the SAT does not measure anything meaningful other than the ability to take the test. In 2014, Bard College president Leon Botstein wrote for Time magazine: 
However, Botstein's conclusion was criticized in a subsequent Slate article: 
Additionally, test scores serve as a "broad yardstick to compare students across disparate school districts and states."Hubler, Shawn. "Why Is the SAT Falling Out of Favor?" The New York Times: May 23, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2020.
In 2020, the board of regents of the University of California system voted unanimously to phase out SAT and ACT scores from admissions by 2025. While the inability of many students to take these tests due to COVID-19 pandemic was one major factor, other rationales included concerns that these tests unfairly favor students from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds.Hubler, Shawn. "University of California Will End Use of SAT and ACT in Admissions." The New York Times: May 21, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2020.
However, this vote came against a recommendation by the University of California faculty senate, whose report on standardized testing recommended against eliminating the SAT/ACT from admissions based on finding "test scores are currently better predictors of first-year GPA than high school grade point average (HSGPA), and about as good at predicting first-year retention, UGPA [undergraduate GPA], and graduation.""Report of the UC Academic Council Standardized Testing Task Force (STTF)," p. 3.
Despite rhetoric by the board of regents that test scores are discriminatory towards disadvantaged groups, the faculty task force found: "Under the current eligibility system, tests do identify otherwise ineligible applicants who come from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds. Admission tests find talented students who do notstand out in terms of high school grades alone.""Report of the UC Academic Council Standardized Testing Task Force (STTF)," p. 33. The Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn also recommended that the UC expand access to test prep resources to students who otherwise could not afford test prep.McGurn, William. "Is the SAT Really the Problem?" The Wall Street Journal: May 25, 2020. Accessed May 26, 2020.
==How smart are you?==
Embarrassingly, Mensa accepts SAT scores from way back when, when the test was harder to guess at, as proof of potential members being sufficiently desperate to justify their awesome IQ of 130 or so. 
==References==
Category:Education