Opinions on the SAT?
 

Recently there has been a new planned change to all SAT exams; there is no more writing portion, bringing down the total possible points to 1600. It is being changed to be more relevant and fair; especially when it comes to testing vocabulary. These changes are set to take place in 2016.

So, what do you think about the SAT? Do you think it helps or hinders? What do you think about these future changes as well?
(Also going to allow multiple choices for the poll)

That thing is a stupid, unfair, unnecessary waste of 5 hours. It featured words you'll never use in your life unless you're an English major, and even then you'd probably avoid using them. The math was also extremely misleading and confusing and relied heavily on long word problems that were only there to distract you from the simple equation at the end. I didn't have too much of a problem with the essay or grammar, but everything was just so tiring and I kept having to ask myself if it was all worth it.

The test will always be stupid, even now that they're scaling it back a bit. I hope it gives more people a chance to be successful, but I just don't care anymore. I'm happy with my 1850.

Most of it is so you can read other folks using them and understand their context. Although, if I recall correctly, the SAT didn't have any context, did it?

Oh no it wasn't. And oh yes it did. Taking the SAT wasn't about how smart you are, but how clever you are. It was designed to trick you and make you go for the wrong answers. Hopefully with this new one it'll be more like the ACT. If not... I swear I will refuse to help my children on the SAT.

I'm glad I had to waste dozens of hours learning the definition of words like "modicum," I'm totally going to be using them regularly at dinnertime conversations from now on.

Oh and I don't even think English majors use some of the words on the test.

I'm not a fan of the test, but I don't think it's a pointless as other people like to say it is. The main draw, as I understand it, is that it's completely and carefully standardized. Otherwise, all colleges have to go by for admission is grades and recommendation letters, which are decidedly not standardized. An A in my high school is not the same as an A in Stuyvesant which is not the same as another A in my high school by someone who took easier or harder classes than I did.

1.Go to a Community College.
2.Get plenty the credits
3.They only care your college education.

Less stress and less money spent.
There you go SAT is only if you want to waste money by going straight to a regular full price college with most of the same professors and curriculum.

I'm not a good test taker, but I appreciate what they can do for a person. My school grades wouldn't take me anywhere seeing as how my school is decent but the school up the street is one of the best in the whole state of Maryland. However, I think it would be more beneficial tested you on your actual intelligence. The SAT makers follow a pattern, which I've studied so extensively I could craft a test myself, and it's like a giant trick. And why have an essay when just about every college asks for some anyway?

If only that was an option, but unfortunately it never can and never will be. I need to leave somewhere more open and with a different setting. I'm not going to college just for an education, now. (And this community's community college is a laughing stock, so I'd get nowhere in life.)

IQ != do well in college, though. If admissions used IQ as their metric for deciding who gets in and who gets scholarship money, they'd be ripping off a lot of people who aren't terribly smart but are willing to work their posteriors off, to say nothing of the people who have brains coming out of their ears but are even lazier than I am.

By they do you mean employers? Anyways, I probably should've done this, but transfer to a more noteworthy school after 2 years in CC, since the university you graduate with is the one that goes on your degree.

Frankly, I think testing people based on cleverness is more important than testing them based on knowledge. It's all fine and dandy if you can make a bunch of flash cards and memorize a bunch of vocab words that you know will be on the test, but it's more important to understand how to figure out what a word means based on context, the roots of the word, or possibly having seen it before.

That said, there are a buttload of jobs where your ability has no relation to how good you did on the SAT, and then there's also this troubling relation.

I personality feel that changing the vocabulary is a good move, but most reading sections on the SATs have 5 to 8 vocabulary words. Truly, the vocabulary is only a third of the reading grade. You could still get a decent score if you get enough of the other questions right.

I don't feel there is a point of just removing the Writing section, it is not that hard to get a decent score on and a ton of colleges look at the writing score as optional score anyways so if you did bad on it then it does not affect you that much. However if you do well on it, the Writing section could get you into a better school. The Writing Section is just one Essay worth 12 points and then a handful of multiple choice grammar questions.

The thing that I don't like about the SATs is the fact that the reading subjects are so boring and it would be nice if they gave you some that are somewhat interesting. There is not enough time on this test, so you have to hurry and hope you are right. It would be nice if they add five extra minutes on each section. (I know that will make it a longer testing period but at least you get more time to answer questions.) I also hate the fact that lose points if you get one wrong, it make knowing when to guess so much harder. I know it is only a 1/4 of a point but it can add up.

The SATs is a test that does focus on your cleverness rather than your brain, but however if you get something wrong on a regular test you would not lose points although at the same time you wouldn't gain any either. Just because you do bad on the SATs does not mean that you can't handle college any less then the next person.

I personality feel the SATs are important, but they should not have so much of a say if you can handle college or not. You could also get extremely lucky and guess on every question and get a 2000.

I'm going to go out on a limb and tackle this issue, as it's been debated in my English class and I feel like I should weigh in. Now, I might be a little biased because I did quite well on the SAT, sitting at a comfortable 2220 (710 Critical Reading, 750 Math, 760 Writing) with a composite score of 2270 (710 Critical Reading, 800 Math, 760 Writing). And honestly, I don't particularly hate the test, but that might be a biased opinion. Is it a waste of time? Yes, it is. It doesn't really help you for anything (although I must say that, even though I plan to go into college as an astrophysics major, I frequently use some of the vocabulary that I learned in the course of studying for it) and is best classified as a one-shot test. You're taught how to take the SAT and only how to take the SAT, and it doesn't particularly hone your test-taking skills, except for maybe teaching you to read the question carefully without preemptively choosing an answer.

While the SAT shouldn't be one of the first things colleges look at when deciding whether to admit or reject an application, it should still be an aspect of the application that should be recognized. Like it was said, it tests cleverness rather than knowledge. They analyze your knowledge through your GPA anyways.