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OrientedDis.. Disoriented. |
Friday, June 28, 2002 mark-my-words Changes to the SAT heh. As long as the SAT is still around once I am out of college - it is on my 'agenda'/priority/goal to do-away with this test completely. I know it may sound ridiculous or extreme to some, but I see it as a huge injustice in the selection process of students for colleges and the distribution of financial aid. I studied this in depth as my chosen topic for my final term paper in my college psychology class this past year, and it is completely obvious that this test is skewed and biased based upon the fact that students can buy their score through benefits which are offered in some areas, but not all areas. Not to mention that there are a hundred other facts which distort the scores. Also, there are several aspects to "intelligence" (empathetic, creative, etc.), and the SAT only measures analytical. There is nothing "standardized" about this test at all (which would explain why the makers of the SAT did away with the word "Standardized (Analytical?) Test" definition - it is simply called the "SAT" now, by definition). I am glad to see that higher-math was added along with writing. That was a difficulty for me - being tested on such trivial math problems which I learned in 7th grade, but I was in Pre-Calculus by the time I was in 10th grade, and Calculus by the time I was in 11th grade - 11th grade being when I took the test. Heh, I was attempting to solve what-should-be simple "geometry" problems by using integrals. It was a mess. If you don't use it - you lose it.. for me at least. It comes back easily with some practice, but "SAT classes" were never offered in my city as they were offered in the larger cities. heh, to be honest, I struggled with the SATs and they really took a toll on my confidence in applying to colleges. I didn't apply to one ivy league college - or any college, for that matter, which suggested an average SAT of 1350 or higher.. despite being first in my class. That isn't so true, actually. There were about four colleges and universities which I applied to that said they had a large majority of their class entering with scores comparable to 1350... heh, and I was accepted to all of those colleges/universities with large financial aid packages.. even though my SAT score fell below 1350 - enough to frighten me in applying to other colleges and universities I was really interested in. I kind of wish now that I hadn't been so weary to apply to certain colleges, but the SATs were my nightmare - they were going to keep me out of going to whatever college I wished to attend (I like having options ;D .. that was my original goal.. to have large options). In the end, I am thrilled with my University choice. In my heart, I know that I would have made the same decision even if I had applied to the other colleges and been accepted. The point is... ahha.. side-tracked again... I plan to rid the education system of SATs. The tests are not being used for the original pupose they were created for (to help students with learning disabilities), are wrongly being distributed by huge-profiting-corporations, and are unfairly being used by colleges to place students in college and decide what type of financial aid they will receive. ;) side-note: SAT II essay test - memory - the topic was perfect (I can't remember what it was exactly), but I wrote something similar to how the SATs are "something good being used for the wrong purpose"... oh yeah.. it just came back to me.. that was the topic. They said to discuss what that statement meant to me, or something pertaining to how I could relate to it? I can't really remember - it was a long time ago. Do you think that might have been one of the reasons my score came back as LOW? lol. Eh.. I can write well when I want to (this blog is not an example of that... faaaar from being an example).. heh, and I know I wrote decently with a strong argument. oh-well. ;D ... I was pissed that day and didn't want to be there taking the test. Actually, I think I was pissed every day that I had to sit-in on one of those tests. . . . babbled Lin |
