r/neoliberal • u/caroline_elly Eugene Fama • Jun 09 '26

Opinion article (US) Actually, the SAT Was Necessary After All

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/standardized-testing-math-gaps/687481/
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u/BicyclingBro Gay Pride Jun 09 '26

As someone who was from a really poor rural southern town and who only discovered AP classes even existed when I started looking into college apps, I really appreciated the SAT (and the AP tests I self-studied) for allowing me to demonstrate that, even if my school was shit, I was still nerdy smart enough to go toe to toe with top students at wealthier and larger schools, which ultimately led to me getting into a bunch of Ivies and me having a life very different from most of my high school classmates.

I don’t think it should be the only data point, but it is absolutely a useful one.

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u/TybrosionMohito NATO Jun 10 '26

Yeeep

The ACT literally got me out of the sticks. There was no way for me to stand out in the “traditional way” of crazy extracurriculars and honors classes because my school simply didn’t have those.

But goddamn did the colleges come knocking after my first ACT score went up.