I am not a score. I am not a test. I am not a percentage. I am not a Scantron. MY SAT score does not define me.
In the world of IB/ AP Kids one of the most popular questions is: what's your SAT score? Kids are so competitive about their score, and feel as if they are somehow superior to you if they beat your score. It's like everyone has this idea in their head that the SAT is actually a good measure of knowledge. Well, let me break it to you, it's not.
The SAT tests skills that most students "should" know by the end of junior year. The knowledge is mostly simple concepts, except they take the simple knowledge, turn it inside out, reverse the rules, find the one special exception to a rule, blur your vision with confusing words, and then make you read it upside down. In essence, they ask a question by going around the long way, and trying to intimidate people with their fancy diction. So, if that sounds like a fair test to you, then you're delusional. The SAT does not represent knowledge, it represents how well a student knows how to play the game of the test makers. A student may have the knowledge needed to answer a question, but lack the understanding of the way the question was asked. So, the SAT is not an even playing field.
Another factor to consider is what kind of a test taker you are. A student can be brilliant, but a terrible test taker. Because they're a terrible test taker, they can't exhibit their knowledge in the way that colleges want to see it with some standardized test facade of intelligence. The SAT should not have as much decision-making power as it does. MY SAT does not represent my intelligence. So, if a bad test taker is a genius, they have a small chance of being accepted to the college of their choice, because their SAT was lower than average. Then, a university missed out on an excellent mind, simply because the numbers of test scores didn't work out. All the hard work that students put into their classes can be clouded out by some lousy score, that doesn't really mean a whole lot. This is the saddest testament to the kind of knowledge, and talent that is honored. I hope that one day, the world will wake up and realize that a standardized can can not accurately, or fairly show capability.
But, until the world wakes up, high school kids are faced with a sad reality: study for this test that doesn't really correlate to the things you've learned, and then do extremely well against all the odds, just to prove that you can play the game. In most cases, the SAT is not straight forward for students, and they must do some sort of preparation. Test prep is all the rage right now, and expensive prep often sets kids up for success, because they teach students how to understand the test and how to play the game. Students who take SAT prep classes usually outscore those who did not formally prepare. So, the children who can afford SAT prep classes have the upper hand on the SAT, simply because they have the means to prepare with classes? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. This is because it is not mostly knowledge that is taught in prep classes, it's an understanding of the cruel game of the evil test makers. Sometimes I feel like those people who write the test sit back and cackle after they make another evil, confusing, dreadful question.
People are being consumed alive by the SAT, they spend hours upon hours torturing themselves to prepare for all kinds of test scenarios. In the generation of my parents, they took the SAT one time, and that was it. They studied for it, but they didn't obsess themselves with getting a perfect score. I spend 8 hours of my weekend, and many hours of my week studying for the SAT. It is getting out of hand, the SAT is making people crazy. The SAT was making me crazy, until realized a few nights ago just how pathetic this test was.
On the SAT it is extremely hard to hide a bad score. What do I mean by this? Well, the SAT is a cumulative score, unlike the ACT. For me, I can totally rock the writing and reading section, but I fall short when it comes to the math section. I have a solid understanding of math, and I enjoy math sometimes. But, the math on the SAT tests math skills that I know in ways I've never seen. On the calculator portion, I can do decently well, although still far worse than I perform on the reading and writing. On the non-calculator portion, I can do some of the problems, but by the end I usually end up guessing on more than I should. So, for me, since I do well on the reading and writing, my overall score is severely dragged down by my math score. So, for people who specialize in a certain subject, and perform basically in the other, this test is not a demonstration of talent and raw skill.
The SAT does not define me. I choose not to be so easily belittled by a piece of paper. I mean that's really all it is, some stupid, ugly, cold piece of paper. I am more than MY SAT score, and I am more than a cold human who spends my whole entire life preparing for a test that does not truly exhibit my talents. I am more than the SAT. The SAT favors those who can afford to educate themselves with an expensive prep class, and is the worst nightmare of a bad test taker. It is disappointing that colleges decide to weigh the SAT score with such great importance, but that's the way it is.
The other night I laughed until I actually cried, because I realized how silly it was to be so worked up over a piece of paper. It is a stack of papers that are just bitter that they weren't made into money, or something cooler than a standardized test. It is a set of bland, dry, 8 1/2" by 11" papers that could never be more than a phony representation of my true natural ability. I aspire to be more than an SAT score.The SAT is small hurdle that I will overcome, not because I care to please the game-makers, but because that's what I must do to achieve the things I aspire for in the future. I don't believe that standardized tests, of any sort, really prove intelligence or understanding. I will not be defined by some silly scantron that is supposed to take some fake measure of my intelligence. I am not my SAT score.
