LogFAQs > #939593043

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

I could understand eliminating the test scores and just going off GPA or whatever, but replacing it with a proprietary test? That seems like it will be WAY harder for your average poor person to study for and take?

GPA is also highly correlated with economic class. Upper middle class parents spend a ton of time and money getting their kids top grades - hiring tutors, "helping" with homework, etc. I work with a lot of them who have lost awareness that grades are supposed to reflect their child's learning in school, not the combined efforts of the family.

The SAT at least was designed specifically to be hard to study for, to reduce the gap between economic classes. And it partially succeeds - preparation is far less useful than on most tests. Preparation is where the affluent have the biggest advantage - poor kids don't know that their affluent peers' parents are putting in hundreds of hours of time to organize a preparation plan starting years before the test. The SAT is not perfect but it's better than going off of anything that favors preparation time even more, like high school grades alone.

I think this shows the true face of the class war. Affluent school administrators want to take the best talent from the lower classes, admit them into their colleges, and turn them into a member of the affluent class. Then, those people will try to help by encouraging others to individually work hard to become richer - harming the collective bargaining position of the poor in the process.