the SAT doesn't work, here's why we still use it
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- Опубликовано: 31 янв 2019
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The SAT is a standardized test widely used for admission to famous universities like Harvard and Yale, and more students are writing it than ever before. At the same time, education reform continues to gain popularity the effectiveness of standardized tests come into question. So, if we know that the SAT is broken, why does it still exist?
In this episode of Nerdonomics, I dive into the problematic origin of the SAT, and figure out why colleges and universities still use the SAT. I also try to write the SAT... without studying.
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Welcome to the joke under the fold! Here's one for the math fandom:
I always prayed before my trigonometry tests. I was hoping for a sine from above.
Leave a comment below with the word TEST to let me know you were here ;-)
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This part is not a joke. This video was sponsored by Squarespace.
*QUESTION:* Do you guys think the SAT is still necessary? Reply down below!
*TIMESTAMPS:*
00:00 - preview
00:19 - why the SAT is weird if you think about it
01:01 - the origin of the SAT
02:08 - the evolution of the SAT
03:43 - writing the SAT (without studying)
07:27 - the problem with the SAT
09:54 - why the SAT still exists
11:14 - we need to end the SAT
13:27 - credits
@@aurora_tw1g It's very useful for when you want to check a specific point in the video a few weeks down the road or maybe have an attention deficit disorder and benefit from seeing the structure. And it's nice to show off (and for us to see) how well thought-out the video's structure is! And as someone who gets paid to make time stamps on RUclips videos I know it's a tedious work that she put in just to improve our experience because someone at some point WILL benefit from it and we should be grateful that she does it ❤️
It's like captions: Not everyone uses or needs them but someone's RUclips experience will be improved through them.
I feel like The SAT as an idea is needed by schools. An A in one school does not directly translate to an A from another. Every state, hell every school, has their own grading policies and distributions. The test is supposed to standardize everyone to make admissions easier. But it doesn’t. Grading is different from exam to exam, so if I got the same number of questions right on different exams I would get two different scores. Content is also another problem. I feel it’s mostly useless. The reading comprehension questions can be overly complicated and very misleading in what it is asking. There isn’t enough time in the section to read the questions enough to fully understand them and then read the passages enough times to answer the question. For math questions they can go from easy to absurd in a matter of seconds. Whenever my parents would ask what level math was on the SAT I could never give them a straight answer because it doesn’t fit into anything I would learn in school. They mix analytical thinking with more of their reading comprehension trickery and it comes out just as bad. The writing questions can be the worst part of them exam solely for the fact they say “choose the most correct answer.” Unless it’s absolutely wrong, correct grammar is subjective. Even if something sounds right in my head they test makers probably disagree. Also the words they ask to define can be ridiculously pretentious or are just never used in common language that you would use in everyday life or even in basic literature courses in college. I am 100% sure that I have never heard someone ever say or use the word draconian at college, student or professor.
The money is another ridiculous aspect of the SAT, even beyond the costs of taking the exam or prep courses that may not even help. It’s the fees for sending scores. I had to pay a lot to send my scores to multiple schools. Why does it cost money to basically email a school a four digit number, or a one digit in the case of the AP tests?
The SAT as an idea is needed. But the College Board needs a massive overhaul.
Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
YES! IT BRINGS STUDENTS TOGETHER WITH SOME GOOD GOOD MEMES!
Other than that nah
A professor friend of mine back in college ran a small study tracking a variety of students coming to the Architecture program, specifically their success compared to their SAT scores. He found no correlation. This raises questions. You stated that SAT only predicted success with a few percent more accuracy than transcripts. That raises more. On the other hand, if I were an admissions office with 5000 applications to fill 100 seats, I'd welcome any kind of filter the way a drowning person welcomes a floaty thing. Any floaty thing.
Decidedly hard question.
as someone who took prep classes and did really well on the SAT... yeah, you nailed it in the video. Because of the time constraint especially, it doesn't test your problem solving ability or your academic knowledge but how much you practiced for the test. Even if you know the material or are able to figure it out, you may not have the time to do so accurately without preparation specific to the test. While there are free resources available, there are also countless classes, books, et cetera designed to give buyers an upper hand. In not testing academic ability or intelligence but rather preparation and encouraging spending money for said preparation, it really is in many ways just a test of wealth.
“i major in mathematics”
“oh wait 2 plus 3 isn’t 6”
we’ve all been there don’t even lie
Abigail Judith Mathematics is a funny thing. Once you get far enough into it, the basics kinda stop mattering.
In chemistry, if you forget the first rule (hot glass looks just like cold glass), you get burned and hopefully don’t spill the test tube filled with who knows what all over you. In biology, forgetting the basics of bacterial containment could mean you literally release the plague. But in math, at least when I was in school, you’d typically lose a point (out of a hundred). Maybe two if it was egregious.
Map Wolf Yeah, that’s probably a big part of it.
So many English majors can't spell or grammar.
LashknifeTalon In fairness, that’s because English’s spelling and grammar rules are... not entirely logical. Especially the spelling rules.
@@OtherTheDave That's because what's taught as "the basics" in math are not really the basics. It's weird, because math is actually progressive and our understanding of what it is at a fundamental level has undergone a radical upheaval in the last 100 years, yet it is still being taught as if there is some logical path between all the specialised applications of the core concepts (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus etc.) and the core concepts themselves that can be discovered by a child in a classroom. That's not the case. There is no logical path. These things were developed to solve specific sorts of problems over the course of millennia by the greatest minds humanity has produced. To the extent that the core concepts of each are related to a deeper meaning, it needs to be enumerated. Why do we teach kids starting from what we thought about math 5000 years ago?
She is the literal embodiment of what happens in millions of student's heads on the SAT.
Yep lol. Except we arent allowed to express it.
@@random23287 > students' heads
Also, 100 questions or 1 hour testing is just about when you start burning out
The SAT is 3 hours, 158 questions, 3 different subjects
Oh, shoutout to my Spanish teacher who decided a full-length test in a half-class AFTER the psat was a good idea
Professional exams are typically much longer. My teaching exams were 3.5 hours for the pedagogy and 4 hours for the secondary math part. One hour exams are not common.
To answer the video's question -- "Why does it exist?" The SAT scores are used *in addition to* high school grades, and while each only correlates to freshman grades at 30+%, when combined, are much better, and if you add other university application requirements, you get the best prediction people know how to get. If they knew something better, they'd almost certainly be using it. There's no conspiracy.
And this is the failure of this video. It doesn't truly steelman the reason for the exam. It doesn't look deeply at understanding the application process and how multiple measures of student ability improve the application outcomes for selective universities.
I'm all for getting rid of high-stakes testing. What's the suitable replacement? This video doesn't even pretend to have an answer. "SAT bad!" Viewers can hop on that bandwagon, right? Criticism is easy. Construction is hard.
@@DangRenBo wow, you perfectly elaborated what I wanted to say,
@@DangRenBo This
I had a math test where it was after a cold pep rally and due to it being a pep rally day we only had one thrid of normal time
Jee is 6
Prep guides: don’t actually read the excerpts. Just read the questions and scan for answers.
Me: but... but... sometimes the excerpts are actually really interesting. What is the point of reading if you don’t get to read?
But reading is not the point of the reading test. Gathering information is.
right i got one that was this letter/speech against antislavery from the 1830s i felt so bad for the guy cuz he rlly fought with his whole soul for something that wouldn't happen in his lifetime, but at the same time it gave me hope
I got a question that was about a family and how they limited screen time. It might sound cheesy but it was actually a pretty good passage. It actually inspired me to take break from my phone... for 15 minutes.
The fool I am for actually trying to read what they give me instead of skipping to the questions.
@@Kimmie6772 They tell me to annotate but I never need to because I read it properly instead of skimming over it.
When the test get thicc I say I quit
Mario says: Persevere through hard questions or skip them and come back at the end
Luigi says:
The fitness gram Pacer taste is a mulitstage aerobic capacity test.
@@K1LLERSQU1D i keep hearing about this pacer test and its done around here where i live in middle school and the newer built highschool, but not in my current older highschool, i think im lucky
6:37
Same lmao.
I used Khan Academy when prepping and I would 10/10 recommend for anyone in need. Its literally free-
yeah and is cooperating with the college board, compared to others who are not affiliated
Khan academy is great unless your teacher assigns a mission as a grade because it’s mission percentage handouts are so sporadic
Works better than most cheap SAT prep courses
ozwilliam At that point it’s probably the teacher’s fault, huh
500 practice questions in and i regret nothing
I studied for the SAT on the Khan Academy website for 8 hours and got 1540/1600 and was pretty proud of myself. Meanwhile I was getting less than 80% on my school tests cause I suck
This makes me feel better somehow.
I guess I just study the SAT on Khan Academy.
Interesting
I'm starting to get sad right now 😂 i've been preparing for two months (not a native, just a latinoamerican girl) and have been on khan academy many hours. I'm doing well in math, but reading is my nightmare. The worst part is that i could answer those questions on any other circumstance that is not SAT and then i kept changing my previous answers and the first ones turned out to be okay ... to sum up, i have this exam in two days and im probably getting 1300 :(
W khan academy
I love how fast she transitions from a mental breakdown from taking the SAT to saying that none of it was that hard
It’s very easy compare to most entrance exams in Asia. Just see Jee
@@OurCumrade found the poo
*me: gets a 99% on all my report cards in school*
*also me: takes SATs and barely and gets little over 1000*
cosmo c. Samee, I had a 4.3 gpa but the sat messed my life up and now I’m pretty sure most schools will reject me :(
@@menkae6708the sad reality smhhh
@@menkae6708 do sat prep lol
lil vexeno umm no, it’s too late now
apply to test optional schools!
Personally, standardized tests are the worse specially with ADD. I can't pay attention to passages and I just end up looking at the clock the entire time
Thiago Loyola ADD sucks crap. I lose my attention span in five seconds no matter what. Ugh.
It’s the worst,when I was in public school(I’m now in online school)I couldn’t focus(I still can’t ),I got easily distracted to the point to where teachers called me a bad kid just because I wasn’t a good tester.
Caspin
That’s stupid, why would the teachers call you that? That isn’t what a teacher is for. A teacher is, in my point of view, supposed to encourage learning and support students in the areas where they are most vulnerable. Not publicly call them out and humiliate them.
Yeah it’s so stupid too because after going to college I realized a lot of the stuff taught in high school is FAKE NEWS bc a large portion of the info is so outdated or/and overly generalized to the point of it being false.
Caspin honestly they’re were probably just uninformed and ignorant about the subject. It doesn’t make you or me dumb we just need more to analyze and conceptualize, but once we get stuff it’s usually at a deeper level.
"College board is trying to fix this"
*makes you pay to send your DIGITAL SAT scores*
I am starting to realize just how lucky us folks in New Zealand are with our education system. Our big tests happen the year before our final high school year, they're divided up by subject, and into multiple separate papers by topic. You can also choose how many topics you want to do in each subject. So for example, for my physics exam my class focused on learning the mechanics exam, I chose to learn and do electricity on top of that.
Also, what they test is critical stuff. Last year I was tested on differentiation, force and torque, understanding of a spoken french, so on.
I am now moving to New Zealand
once again, new zealand proves to be the only country with any idea how to do anything productively /lh
That doesn't quite sound like NCEA but it does constantly change so I might be out of the loop, but even with that we have a variety of systems and for entering Univeristy all you need in Uni entrance which you can get a variety of different ways like doing a course, completing NCEA, or Cambridge, or IB/UE diploma, or CENZ, or Bursuray or just become 20. That's what I like about education here, there are many paths that are all valid and often for employers are just like uh okay they know what to do then, doesn't matter how they get there but as long as they do and know what they are doing.
It's because NZ has national exams. US/UK/etc have local exams and even multiple exam boards which have pressure to 'dumb down' so that more kids pass them. And so grades from one high school can't be directly compared to another high school. Without the SAT, this discrepancy would be even worse as it's a national exam that all the others can be compared to.
Looks like you haven't heard of AP exams.
SAT HACK: for reading part, dont read! Just look at the questions and scan for the answers; usually half of them ask about a specific paragraph anyways
@Rin Rin lol honestly same! i have no memory, so trying to read (plus with a time limit looming over your head) just ends in wasted time compared to scanning. so much for it being a 'reading' section ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m currently in middle school and we are still doing (Parcc?) testing and sometimes it asked for something from a certain paragraph and you bet I did this I had to go to the bathroom and I couldn’t during the test.
When I read anything that's big like a book or a reading activity in class I end up reading way too fast causing me to not understand what I'm even reading. I do this technique a lot actually and it really does work.
My current reading teacher understands that the selections are often boring, so she tells us to do the questions that have a specific paragraph or vocabulary question. And to always avoid reading the selections.
mycotian that’s what I do in my 2nd language exam because I’m terrible in my 2nd language
SAT : Scholarly Aptitude Test.
SAT : Scholarly Assessment Test.
SAT : Something As (a) Test.
Super Asinine Test
Self Assembling Tetrahedron
As my psych teacher called it in my freshman year of college, the "silly ass test."
Stupid Ass Test
Shitty Ass Trash
As an SAT tutor who helps rich kids get near perfect scores, I agree that it definitely is a messed up system. The SAT isn’t a test or your intelligence, knowledge, or capability. It’s about whether or not you know the tricks to get a perfect score. While it’s possible to get there studying independently with a book, most of the kids with extremely high scores had months of expensive tutoring ☹️
...fuc#,
No es algo que solo pase en los Estados Unidos, digo en casi todos los demás paises, también puedes pagar por un tutor para poder prepararte para un examen o entender mejor las clases, pero eso no quita que necesariamente el sistema educativo solo premia la "riqueza" de sus estudiantes. Creo que eso ya viene de la demanda y oferta como en todo. Hay demanda de estudiantes por querer dar bien el examen SAT y por consiguiente habrá oferta de profesores o tutores que estarán dispuestos a darte mas clases para poder rendir mejor tu examen SAT. Es de igual manera con todos los demás exámenes en otros paises, lo que quiero decir es que este tema de que premia la "riqueza" es absurdo, aun si el sistema no es perfecto, eso no quita que no se este premiando, el conocimiento y es por eso que discrepo con el video.
"This is basically 9th and 10th grade ability, you don't even need to finish high school to do this."
Well, I guess that explains why you can start taking the SAT in spring of your sophomore year.
thats really weird that they only let you take it in sophomore tbh, they let me take it at 7th grade and the psat at 6th
“ oh god what 3 x 9?!?”
“S-O-H C A H T O A”
“This is garbage”
Why is this me tho
I felt those on spiritual levels.
Uhhhh 3x9 is 43 ez
The DeadCreator .....I......I.....nevermind.........
@@pointlesslylukesplainingpo1200 Is this a joke lol
@@retardbuster1498 Yes its a joke you low IQ imbecile
I feel like America’s education system is just so fake. All about the artificial pursuit of status rather than actual self-improvement or the acquisition of skills and knowledge. The SAT is just a small part of that. The essays, the extracurriculars, the grades, the hyper-competitive admissions. None of it reflects how good you are at what you do, and putting hard work and dedication into the process just shows that you bought into society’s delusions.
Jane Lawson
Try being a student in Vietnam, real fucking hell hole
How should one go about achieving success, then?
Suck to be American then. I see the question sample and so Nope. wasted of time, it not test. It just way to see how you better than other student.
Finland is doing it he right way
You might feel like it's an american problem, but girl, South Korea and Japan have it even worse. For many MANY people, your worth is strictly based on your grades. And the college you go to. You know how women have check mark for dudes like "must be tall, must love dogs?" Yeah, education is such an effing big deal in those places, women will have" must have gone to x school" as a requirement for a suitor. At least in the US, especially among the younger generation, we are seriously fighting back at the SAT and a lot of education practices that don't actually help people be better or more educated. Over there, it's hard to speak up about that stuff bc it's drilled into everyone- your grades measure your worth and intelligence. Which is simply not true. Reading, writing, math are not the only skills ones can have.
the thing i hate about tests in general is that most students only use like two days before to study with sleepless nights and maybe they do good. But the next day almost all that information one has memorized is gone.
Yes, but the _next_ time you need to learn it, it's much easier. It doesn't matter if you forget stuff that you don't use. The important thing is that you were capable of learning it to start with.
But why? It’s not like you can study for the SATs anyway, it’s all just like logic based, not material based. The only thing that would be helpful to study would be to know what problem types there were and to review a few math concepts
@@lizzzylavender you shouldn’t be able to in theory, but you can and should study for the SATs because it will boost your score in practice
@@randeknight that's true, it's still a bad system though lmao
@@lizzzylavender Actually you can study for it by taking practice tests and studying question types. I'm a Junior that just took it and that's what I did.
"why are we playing word games, i thought we were testing math ability" why does hearing my own thoughts sting like this
My school holds the SAT for all juniors. On the day of my SATs, I got off the bus, ran to the nurse's office and proceed to throw up. Numerous times. I told the nurse that there was no way I was going home, I have SATs to take. I have heard multiple stories of people throwing up in their testing rooms and that should at least show one reason it is a bad system. There is too much damn pressure to do well.
Aww, dw you can always retake it! Hope you guys did well.
Maybe schools should cover how to reduce test anxiety so less people feel all that pressure
@@starcherry6814 as far as those free tests go, as far as I know you can not retake them. The whole school's class takes it on that day, and you get one shot to be there.
@@TheAvgCommentator Of course you don't get only one shot, you can retake the test as much as you'd like! And if you can't afford to retake it then you can also apply for a waiver!
I retook the SAT 3 times before I got the score I wanted! Relax
@@starcherry6814 Not for free.
@@TheAvgCommentator Yes for free, you can apply for and receive a waiver up to 4 times. People that are on government assistance are especially prioritised. Most of the time they'll pay for most or the entire test.
“Is this about economics?”
“It is about economics!”
“Maybe I am illiterate?”
Why do I feel this in my soul.
Same lmao.
But it is not at the same time. I scored a 1400(a good score) in 1997 on the SAT without studying or spending a dime. I was in the bottom 50% of my graduating class. I was super lazy, but smart enough to know things. I wouldn't have gotten into University without it.
As a kid I always thought SAT stood for "Standardized Academic Testing" bc that made The Most Sense to me
At least there will never be a world wide pandemic which causes most high schoolers to miss half their year of education, but because they paid the fees back in August they couldn't get a full refund and had to do the SAT online at home (which will prove difficult or nigh impossible because of environment, test anxiety, and bad internet) or loose those 40$!
Oh... Wait...
lose*
Sats more like sads amirite
Mohamed Ahmed wtf u are everywhere
It annoys me that she doesn't have more subscribers. She works very hard on her video and has a full work load at uni.
I tend to agree. I'm prolly far out of Sabrina's target demographic (as much as she has any), but I watch just because it's so well done, and getting better all the time. And, well, I do learn things from time to time. I believe that she'll explode when she decides to make it explode. Certainly she has access to some excellent mentors. I'm guessing she simply wants to get school done, and then figure it out for real. In the mean time, she's building a freaking fantastic portfolio.
I've been around since the days she had 30K subs, and that fact used to make me so sad, nice to see she's slowly but surely getting the recognition she deserves.
That not how subscribing work.
@@campkira that was unnecessary
She doesn't care about subscribers anyway, or maybe she does. I don't know yet.
That last sentence is so true! I went to college because I was good at passing tests, but I didn’t learn what I wanted to do as a career. It took two years after college trying out different jobs to find some thing that I’m actually passionate about and want to learn more about.
This really drew out a hidden panic, determination, and bitterness about going to college.
Money.
Money.
Money.
SATs are still somewhat light. I only found the time limits harsh. In Brazil, our standardized test, ENEM (National High School Exam) is a government applied ELEVEN HOURS AND A HALF test, containing ALL high school subjects. It is so humongous, it had to be divided in two days, one of 5h30min and another of 6 hours.
One day, you're accessed on Human Sciences AND Natural Sciences (That's National History, World History, Geography, Sociology, Philosophy, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology) altogether, with NO breaks. On the other day, you have Linguistics, Math, and Essay; that's Foreign Language (which can be chosen between English and Spanish), Portuguese Writing, Reading and Text Comprehension, and all of the Math content from high school plus an essay to be written about serious, deep, complex themes like religious discrimination, online data mining, death penalty and etc. Also, with zero break times.
And the worst thing is that sometimes, it is the ONLY entrance method to college around here. Sure, the Secretary of Education is trying and really has improved it throughout the years, but still, it is a fudging NIGHTMARE.
The thing that kills it for me is not having a fucking alternative, i did enem 2 years in a row and i am STILL mentally exhausted of all the shit i had to review and write
I can't imagine how difficult it is for chronically ill students to take those tests. The brain fog is so much somedays I can only handle like an hour of input before I need to rest. Yikes!
My mother literally bribed her way into college in Brazil in the late 80s, and then dropped out. I’ll have to ask her about that and talk w/ my cousins in Brazil, or maybe my Dindo(he’s 26).
The ENEM isn’t getting better anytime soon. There are huge networks of _cursinhos_ (a type of cram school) that train students to take tests like ENEM. If it were to be better, they’d lose a lot of money, so the government isn’t interested in changing it.
Also, private colleges are much easier to get into, and much, much easier to graduate if you have the money. The higher classes aren’t particularly interested in change, since public schools are so bad ENEM works like a class filter to a higher education.
Felipe Vasconcelos I wrote this almost two years ago now. Hope was dim but still existed...
Yep. I took a 1 month long class and boosted my score by about 300 points (~1800 --> ~2100, when it was out of 2400). However, I am an example of SAT trying to be more accessible: I got into the class on scholarship so I didn't have to pay and I got my two test fees waived. But I think it's really telling that the class didn't teach any academic skills. It taught strategies on how to take the test. It wasn't a review of material that might be on the test (like vocab, basic math skills, etc). It was 1 month of "When you see this type of question in the math section, they're looking for a specific type of answer, so you can immediately eliminate any answers with decimals or fractions." and then doing two timed practice tests per week so you got used to the time pressure.
Exactly. It tests your test taking ability. I had similar classes with the exact same explanations. "Here's how you beat the clock and maximize your guesses."
I am a sophmore. I took a practice SAT and scored a 1350, but my grades are only decent. Really the SAT is bullshit, it only tests how many basic questions you can answer in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I hate that I have to take a real one next year and I hate the fact that it will have any affect on my future, even if I get a high score
i think something important to add would be the stress people feel during exams, especially if you are not rich, imagine paying 1300 dollars to study for the SAT and failing it.
this system just puts way to much stress on kids in general.
It’s always the system this, the system that. Y’all are always looking for something to blame. News flash, stress will be a factor throughout ur entire life. It is something u have to learn to deal with if u want to get anywhere in life. Are u going to keep blaming stress at every turn? Think u can’t handle the stress rn? Don’t do SAT, don’t apply to college. Apply when ur ready. Completion is at its peak rn. There are tons of kids doing it with the stress if u wanna complain, u’ll just get left behind. Don’t blame the system, blame ur peers
wait till you learn about the education system in Bangladesh ☠️ you'd regret ever calling this "stress" lmao
@@Abdul-bk5fj Are you saying that the system ain’t shit…???? Because it still 100% is. Putting students under this much stress and pressure is seriously nothing like the real world if you’re the average person.
@@themute9354 it actually is. There are so many points in life where u will be stressed. If u can’t handle it, that’s a personal problem. If u think u aren’t ready to apply to college then that’s ok. Do it at ur own pace. Apply next year or the year after. The system isn’t flawed. U can’t want to get into a top 20 school and say there’s too much pressure. Of course there is and it isn’t because of the system. It’s because of everyone else that wants to get in as well. If other ppl that are handling pressure That u can’t, why would admission officers choose u? If stress is such a big factor, aim lower. Also nobody puts pressure on u to do anything. Ur actions are completely ur responsibility. If u choose to apply to college, then u have to deal with it. If it’s too much of a hassle, find another way, college isn’t the only answer to success. U literally have the internet. SAT or some form of assessment is a must to measure intelligence as well as possible. IMO gpa and AP are more unfair then standardized tests.
@@Abdul-bk5fj You should look up some videos about how fucked up the school systems are mate. The American school system is definitely not okay. I agree with some of what your saying, but the school system in general, like the compulsory stuff that you do not choose, is still fucked.
In Russia we have USE (Unified State Exam), and it seems to me even worse then SAT. You have to take a separate test for every subject, and each one of them takes 3-4 hours. To get to any University you need atleast 3-4 of those USE's done to even be able to apply. Yep, not a single Uni will take you in without USE, it is mandatory. So basically atleast 9 hours of exams to have a chance at getting something at all. Well, okay, thats not entirely true. If you're a prodigy, that has a lot of accomplishments on federal or international level, you will get a degree without mandatory USE, but that isn't very realistic for 99.9% of people.
It is free to take them, but they barely have anything to do with what you studied in school. So if you just go there with no additional preparation, you won't get a good score, even if you were straight A's in school. Since it has its own rules and structure that you need to memorize and stuff. Some schools prepare their students in the last year specifically to pass USE, some don't. So if you want to get a good score, you need a tutor. For every single subject. And for a good degree in a good Uni, you need 4-5 subjects aswell, might be even more.
So basically most people spend 1-2 years just studying to get their USE's; and none of that information is useful after you pass it, you just need that score.
Oh, and one extra detail: if you are female, it's not so bad. You just take a year off, doing whatever, and try again. But if you are male, you get involuntarily conscripted into military, and there is nothing (legal) you can do about it. What an amazing system (no).
Another detail: you can't really prepare in advance, as the exam structure is subject to change every year. It gets worse from here, as the changes to the math exam this year have been announced 4 (FOUR) months before the exam
@@floatline разве математику меняли в этом году? Добавили только новое задание по теории вероятностей и убрали простую 1 задачу. Но это было заранее, а не за 4 месяца. А вот информатику усложнили знатно перед досроком, правда, к счастью, не все новые сложные варианты заданий попались на основной волне.
As a person who took the Unified State Exam this year, I disagree. The Unified State Exam is much closer to the school curriculum than the SAT. Also it's free of charge to take, while the SAT is about $50. In terms of subjects you can go to university with 3, but many students take 4 exams to get more variation on the degrees they can take. And not all subjects require a tutor if you study in a good school: I got a 98/100 in the Russian exam this year with no tutor or paid preparation courses, and my school isn't even elite (I also have a B in all semesters of high school in Russian, in one or two I even barely avoided a C).
@@warmike Честно, не скажу, выпускник 20-го года, помню только что ее хотели усложнять в наш год, но решили это делать на ЕГЭ 2021. Я просто смотрю, например, на SAT, где изменения были в 2006, 2017 и должны произойти в 2024, то есть, выпускникам не стоит беспокоиться, что экзамен для поступления будет изменен за год до поступления. Про 2024 все известно, да и сам экзамен, честно скажем, проще. И в сравнении с постоянно меняющимся ЕГЭ SAT воспринимается гораздо спокойнее
a huge problem for me when i first took it was the timing. we weren’t able to keep going when the timer went off. that meant those unanswered questions wouldn’t count. i wasted so much time panicking over how much time i had left that i couldn’t focus on actually answering the questions. it was awful.
my first SAT score was only a 1090, and it made me feel inferior when my friends bragged about their super high scores. i’m proud of them! i really am!
i just wish the test wasn’t timed the way it is.
Questions answered incorrectly on the SAT are worth -1/4 point, so it’s literally better to leave answers blank than to fill them in at random.
@@camillev.y.2156 that's not true anymore, wrong answers no longer count against you
@@friedrice4015 Well that's one positive. The SAT is no longer training students to avoid tackling problems for fear of failure. Neat.
The ACT is even worse when it comes to not having enough time 😬😬
This is what ruined me. I literally didn't answer half of the questions and was panicking the whole time and was just thinking 'go fast, your problem is how slow you are, but you gotta' be correct too! Split the difference and do half and half!' Repeat ad infinitum.
I did not score well.
Not to mention the ever-increasing amount of kids diagnosed with learning differences.I was lucky enough to get an education that catered to my dyslexia, but when the SAT came around my scores told me I shouldn't have passed middle school...let alone high school.
But here I am! a 3rd year getting a degree in history and doing just fine.
These tests show nothing about a person's ability to succeed; it simply measures how fast you can regurgitate information.
Wonderful video. Thank you so much for making it!
I have a really slow mind when it comes to doing math. Takes me marginally more time to finish a math problem than it does other students. I had a teacher in high school who helped me with this, by allowing me to spend extra time on the tests, instead of just failing me on them. I went to college, and, having ADHD, along with at one point being allowed to have a laptop for written exams in highschool, allowed me those same luxuries in college. I graduated last year, and I really enjoyed the college experience, but every single thing about highschool made me resent it even more, after the fact. My highschool was one of the bigger ones, with a much larger budget, I can only imagine how bad I would have done if I hadn't gone to that school.
(I was allowed a laptop for written tests because my handwriting is so bad, teachers didn't feel like having to decipher it.) It's also... a better way to administer a written exam... USE MODERN TECH. Like, if you wanna rephrase an entire paragraph on paper, you gotta erase everything you wrote, and rewrite on that giant smudge. On a laptop, you can keep the old section for reference, and just write directly where you want to rephrase. Meaning you save a LOT more time.
@@adondriel lmfao i had the same issue with maths and found during one of my linguistics lectures that i have dyscalculia. i literally saw trough time and space, gasped and whispered: oh shit that explains everything. i am so glad you came across such great teachers that made school more accessible for you :D (not being sarcastic, i really mean it)
As someone on the dyslexic spectrum, I second the notion that the SAT is about how fast you can regurgitate information. I grew up always being an average student on paper. But during the test, I was always the last student to finish it. Little did I know I had dyslexia. However, I was not able to get accommodations because I was getting relatively decent grades in English and no teacher made me get tested( mainly because in public schools it’s a lot of paperwork and teachers don’t want to go out of their way to do that paperwork). It wasn’t until my senior year when I got privately tested that I was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia. But through my experience, I realized how it forces children with these disabilities to not be incentivized to get the help they truly need due to school’s lack of wanting to help their own students.
Isn't history regurgitating information though?
@@HighLevelPlayer It's not if you're in a good program. While there are some aspects of history that require you to memorize (dates, places, etc), history really should be about questioning the common narrative, observing evidence, and coming to conclusions based on information you found. It teaches critical thinking and the like.
I kind of put standardized tests in the "necessary evil" pile.
I grew up between the UK (where GCSEs/A-levels are, academics-wise, all that anyone looks at after leaving school) and the US (where each teacher decides what to teach and how to test it but everyone ends up with a "High School Diploma"), and I much prefer the system where my grade has some systematic and rational backing to it, rather than being subject to whether or not my teacher likes me. Obviously standardized tests don't capture the complexities of your personality, approach and circumstances; they're not supposed to and they shouldn't have to. But a well-conceived, well-rounded exam and coursework system designed by professionals and applied fairly to everyone, is the best (indeed, really, the only) way to measure mastery of what's been taught.
Having said that, I agree that the SAT sucks, but not because it's standardized: because it tries to cover everything in a very general way and all in one go without incorporating longer-term coursework. This wishy-washy idea of "aptitude" is definitely a reductive load of horseshit. In that sense I prefer the subject-specific British model.
For me, the SAT was the only way I could apply to international (for me) institutions like those in the UK, Canada or USA as colleges don't always except high school tests from all countries, and it's just easier doing the SATs than figuring out the requirements for all colleges. On a side note, I do feel you - learning shouldn't be about passing tests but actually learning stuff, and I often find myself forgetting that when I get caught up in the rat race and competition. Thanks for the reminder, and thank you for the video :)
I took the SAT 3 times. First, 680 (out of 1600). So I took a month long prep class, and got a 1060. Unhappy with my test score, I took the same prep class, and I went down to a 980.
All this time, I have been aiming for a high SAT score so my dream school (VCU) will accept me. And guess what? When the deadline for regular admissions came, I completely forgot to send my 1060 SAT score. A week later, I get my VCU acceptance letter.
All because of my college essay, my highschool clubs, my grades, and my art portfolio; I got in. Not because of some stupid test.
colleges' weight on test scores vary wildly based on your prospective major, like you said you had an art portfolio, so for art majors where academics isn't as important schools will barely consider the SAT. RISD, one of the best art schools in America have an average SAT score of around 1000. so yes you were very accomplished and it's impressive to get into VCU's art program but not everyone is as lucky where their SAT scores won't be weighted as much by colleges.
@@isabellah1158 RISD's SAT average is around 1300 actually. They are extremely competitive academics AND portfolio wise.
@@tatamigaIaxy oops, I looked it up and I guess it has increased every year lol. This year is 1300 which is crazy for an art school?? The average from 3-4 years before was more like 1000-1200
I’m sending a screenshot of this to my parents
i mean... ok but if your art portfolio is incredible then ofc they will make exceptions. also art has little to do with math so
The SAT was my least favorite TEST. I did terribly the first time, then my parents paid $1500 to get me tutoring through Kaplan and my score went up from the 1600s to high 1900s. I realize I was privileged and not very family has the funds to do so. Which is also infuriating!
1600's isnt even bad though...? I got 948 and I was not retaking that shit, in my opinion 1600's even isn't even bad.
@@kexusthomas5696 When I took the SATs it was out of 2400. I think there is a different metric now
@@christinasantamaria565 from what I've heard the metric is very different. When I took it was also out of 2400, my sophomore year I made a 1600. I told a girl at my local grocery store and she told me that now with a 1600 you could go to nearly any school.
@@SuPeRsKiTtLeStAlKeR for Standard it's ranked out of 1600
@@kexusthomas5696 i got 830 :(
One of my classmates was accepted to Harvard without the SAT playing any part. How do I know this? She hadn’t even taken the SAT
I think Harvard is not requiring SAT scores for a few years
ACT?
I actually used it as a tool against my economic struggles. In my life, constant moving through my life, and having a job through high school, and being very, very lonely caused me to have pretty bad grades. These factors would usually doom my chances for scholarships, but I have a 1400+ sat score with almost perfect math and science scores. So for me the SAT ended up helping my academic profile against my economic background trying to drag it down
Thank you, someone who says it. It's not classist in the slightest, it empowers individuals to take their educational outcomes into their own hands through sheer determination, the fact that it lacks depth is a pretty funny criticism, considering that achieving a real depth of knowledge in any field literally requires hours upon hours of dedicated free time, whereas achieving a broad and shallow understanding is much easier if you have a natural knack for intellectual work.
What this video completely ignores is that SATs are 4% better predictors of university performance than high school GPAs *now*, not compared to when they were initially implemented. If we were to scrap standardized testing you would all of a sudden find that the rich kids in their private schools are achieving significantly higher grades than kids in public schools, and all of a sudden the gap would dramatically increase between how good the standardized test is compared to GPAs. It's funny, because she mentions it in the video that SATs were implemented to bring about social mobility, so that not only the rich white anglo-saxon descended ruling class could go to university, but writes it off because eugenics.
Paying $60 for a test while using free resources online like Khan Academy that have democratized the knowledge necessary to succeed on them really isn't that large of a barrier to success, as compared to attending private school or having enough spare time to be able to volunteer a bunch or have deep intimate knowledge of a specific field.
Furthermore, time limits make sense, in the real world you work on a time limit, and your boss will not care if you have ADHD or dyslexia, they will simply fire you if you cannot get the work done on time or you're not productive enough, and I say this as a person who has ADHD.
@@HeavyMetalorRockfan9 100% this. You summarized my thoughts on this issue haha
@@HeavyMetalorRockfan9 where I live we don't have to pay for college entrance exams at all. We have a couple standardized exams you take at the end of high school, and you need 1 point to pass and graduate. You can pay to retake the exam. What colleges do with that is up to them, but most make their own additional entrance exams that you can take if your high school exams didn't go too well. Or if you had perfect grades in all subjects at school or won some competitions, you'll get accepted anyway. Basically, everyone gets multiple chances and nobody needs to pay for anything.
When you were talking about SAT prep courses, dont forget about the PSAT (Practice SAT) which also costs about $25-$50 to take depending on the school.
Jason Wacker it cost me $90 😭😭😭
I think my school did something like paying for the PSAT, but i don't remember if they paid for the actual SAT, i'm pretty sure I had to pay for that one.
Interesting because for my school for the October test it was only $13, and even $25 just seems excessive
@@ecoonrad4753 My October test was supposed to be like $50 but i got a fee waver
ours was 10🤷🏻♀️
I loath the SAT and everything you just said is what I've discussed with friends, tutors and teachers and more. Everyone knows there's a problem, but a lot of people pretend there isn't so the college board can keep doing its shit. ALSO HAVE YOU HEARD OF SAT SUBJECT TESTS??? They cover the same subjects as AP tests but cover radically different material. A lot of Ivies require them and it's another fee on top of APs, SATs, and COLLEGE TUITION.
Tigar Lili oh god SAT subject tests are exponentially worse than any other test that college board gives. I took the world history test, and having to answer 95 questions in an hour was so so stressful. I got a 5 on the AP exam but only a 700 on the subject test, just because it was so convoluted and jammed full of questions. And the worst part is that I have to take two more for my dream school :/
My biggest SAT advice is to use a graphing calculator. If you are familiar with it and practice a lot, you can get to a point where the calculator does 90% of your work and you just have to regurgitate what the calculator says onto the paper. Saved me SO MUCH TIME. I didn't finish the math section on my two PSAT attempts (regular calculator) but I finished with spare time on my real SAT (using my beloved graphing calculator).
Imagine being dyslexic. You're fully capable of learning and contributing, looking at you Alen Turing, but reading is hard. And guess what, you only get 35 minuets to read all this stuff and do the aanswers.
I LOVE the editing in this. No wait let me be more specific: The animations/graphics? Incredible!! They underline the arguments perfectly and in an entertaining way. The little vlog inserts? Very good for the video's pace. The archive footage? Expertly used. The way you compiled the clips of you taking the SAT was perfect, not too much or too little and very entertaining.
I'm so glad I'm German and there's no SAT here. But then again, there's constantly discussions about how some federal state's A-levels are much harder than others. I suppose it's not a bad idea to have a test like this, but it seems like the SAT specifically went wrong too many times to achieve its goals successfully.
At German universities admission is handled differently for each subject. There can be a test (individually designed by the university which I don't even think is a bad idea), it can be your A-levels average that matters, or anyone can enter and it's just so hard anyone who doesn't qualify leaves after one semester (no student debt in Germany). I don't think a single test to be applied to everyone no matter what they're gonna go into is the only solution, and definitely too susceptible to being discriminatory. It's a tough topic tho and one I'm glad I never had to worry about.
+
+
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I completely agree that one test for all majors is far from the best solution. One thing I will say though is that the different sections in the SAT help a tiny bit in that regard. (Ex: if someone is trying to get into a major outside of math/engineering they take much more pitty on your math score).
big + !!!!!!
"It's math time! I'm so excited to get everything wrong!"
it makes me feel better that you're a math major and also feel this way
I failed the SAT, but went to college and did just fine. I never took AP or honors classes, in fact, I didn’t take that many college prep level classes either. I was a regular student taking just the lower level classes. The problem is, standardized tests like the SAT, PSAT and state tests given to students periodically don’t test them on what they have learned, only what they should have learned thus far and a lot of the material on these tests, a good number of students haven’t been exposed to yet.
I got in a fight with my mom over the SAT. I'm applying this year and I have decided to be 100% test optional. For background I have extreme difficulty in test taking and I have severe memory issues, causing me to not remember mostly anything I study. I spoke with my college advisors and guidance counselor and they all agreed it was the best choice for me. Yet my mom refuses to accept my decision and says I'm going to be a failure without the tests, despite most schools already dropping the exams.
As a Brit I was like “wait, SATS are for primary school kids?”
then I realised.
realised what?
@@GoddessLunaMoon different school system.
Same lol. But the best part is how I've always wondered what SAT stands for, only to see it doesn't stand for anything.
The exam gauges three separate things. One reading and writing, which sort of goes together.
The mathematics has always been easier for me.
Again. If you are deciding to go the college route. Be financially literate.
Work is not bad either.
No. The SAT is an exam you take in high school. Usually a psat first prior to the real exam. PSAT just stands for practice sat.
Hahah the only reason why it’s worth it is because of the SAT memes
You made a typo there!
i still hate you
I never took it and still went to community college.
Only thing missing from your testing experience was the absolute fear of failure that would distract you from actually doing the test
At least, that was present in my test...
Love the video!
as someone who just recently took the SAT “why are we playing word games?!” is exactly it! theres so many math questions where i have to read it several times to even figure out what it wants from me
Arguably, those kind of questions are the most important math for most people later in life. Applying simple mathematics concepts to real life situations where it might not be imminently obvious.
My school just did the SAT last Wednesday and I'm still so mentally exhausted from it, I really wish it didn't feel so necessary so I can succeed in life or university
@MikeProductions1000 The SAT *is* an IQ test, but for the most part, so is college itself. You ever wonder why degrees are required for anything beyond stuff like a medical degree to become a doctor? Turns out, they weren't before 1972, you just took a proficiency test from your employer in order to demonstrate that you could do the job. Simple as that. However, we effectively banned proficiency tests, which lead to degree requirements, which lead to the captive consumer base which colleges enjoy, which lead to higher costs, which lead to loans, which lead to even higher costs, and now we have the student loan debt crisis! Plus, a degree doesn't actually demonstrate that you can do a job, just that you're not totally incompetent, so starting wages fell, which in turn caused compensation and productivity to diverge... all in the name of protecting the poor, lol!
"A single test isn't representative of a person".
Recommended video: "Why horoscopes deserve more credit".
Seriously, no joke.
I mean, you should look it up, it's not what you think it is
I've never been in the same room as an SAT but I definitely agree about the education being about taking tests sentiment. My Maths degree was basically all going to lectures to scribble down notes from a blackboard and then panic when it was time for exams and I realised I was actually supposed to have learnt something.
4:21 - quick tip for the next non existent time you're going to try: this step doesn't require you to read the whole text actually. The best way to do it is to learn to identify key words to figure out what the subject is; then you read the question and look for key words that looks like answer your question.
And that's the only part that really matters, this part test how well you find information on a big text, not how fast or well you read and remember stuff.
The SAT is an arbitrary hoop to jump through, which makes it perfect preparation for adult life.
Step 1: Maintain eye contact with a stranger for 30 seconds, taking small breaks in places in their conversation they would probably not worry about.
Step 2: Profit.
Lol, no it's not, you just don't understand higher education. Schools are not ranked based on quality, but based on competition, and as it turns out, black students who benefit from affirmative action are considerably more likely to drop out than black students who do not, because they are not prepared for the level of competition they end up dealing with. The SAT is a sorting process.
@@hlaw2830 wth
@@shrimpshufflr7745 The idea that there are better schools is just a narcissistic coping mechanism, "Elon Musk isn't smarter than me, he just had opportunities that I didn't!" But, this is no different from imagining that you'd be seven feet tall if you had the right basketball coach, lol.
Affirmative action effectively puts the black lightweight boxer in the middleweight division, which is a disadvantage, doubly so when you remember that we're pulling down the Asian heavyweights as well; however, if we swapped the treatment of blacks and Asians under affirmative action, black students would dominate the top of the class, while the Asian dropout rate would become a concern, because race is not the issue, the issue is progressive white supremacists who view black people like children that don't know any better, and need looking after. I mean, 96% of police shooting victims are men, which means BLM is predicated on a refusal to treat black men like men, otherwise they'd be talking about "privilege", right?
@@hlaw2830 so what is affirmive action?
When I realized I never actually learned anything from school and I was wasting my time and when all my teachers and classmates told me that going to school is a CHOICE even though my family would be BROKEN UP if I didn't go there and that I should just stop resisting and comply, it nearly ruined my life. Seeing so many people be brainwashed like that and realizing you've been doing completely poinless slave work for years is just so fucking sad. Then , I realized that I learned an entire language from just watching RUclips and pretty much nothing from the laughably bad texbooks I was forced to read and it just crushed me even further. Imagine how many geniuses we could have if their methods were actually effective and how many people became homeless just because they gave up on learning a useful skill because of school.
Oh man you're right the school system is garbage
This is what I think about daily as someone in the school system right now. In the words of Albert Einstein "if you just a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid".
@@Bee-kv5tx i want to die lol idk what to do with my life and im a junior so that question has to be addressed and i dont want to keep fueling academia by going to college but also idk wtf else to do and the peer pressure from my family is strong
@@fzxfzxfzx what do you like doing?
@@jenkathefridge3933 i like making music,, mostly electronic stuff but rn i have an electric guitar which im trying to get better at,,, i like animating (i used to do it but i stopped bc i never actually learned how to draw full bodies n anatomy etc and i was only doing stickfigures)
i also like dabbling in image manipulation and composition through photoshop
Also ig i kinda like video editing bc ive done it a lot in the past but maybe its just the satisfaction of completing edited videos ?
13:08 i had to rewind and just feel her emotion. You rarely feel much negitive emotions from her because she likes to stay upbeat but.. my god.
A video on the AP exams, especially with what happened to them this year, would be super interesting seeing as how they both come from the same company
I got a 28 in the ACT and my friend got a 32. Las semester, we both took the same Calculus class in the same university and I got an A- while she got a C+.... Woah
Yeah, I got a 31 but in HS I had a 2.1 gpa. In college I'm on the dean's list. I go to art school so it's structure is much better for my learning environment
Yeah, I've realised that high school marks/standardised tests done pre-university don't accurately predict university marks. At least in our faculty, the Dean has acknowledged this and tells all incoming students that what's most important is work ethic - but unfortunately, they can't screen thousands of students based on work ethic before going to university.
So? Two different classes, two different results.
@@Tyler-zw4kq I'm going to college for advertising and graphic design as a double major. But who gives a shit if I did major in fine arts? Art is something that I am passionate about, it gives meaning to my life. I chose art because that's what I am, I am an artist and a designer.
@@Tyler-zw4kq its a waste of money to go to any college then, you can learn everything off the internet, books, scientific articles, what have you. What it appears to me is that you are trying to say that art isn't as valuable to society as other disciplines, or that you can't make as much money getting an art degree, or that art isn't as academically rigorous as other disciplines. I would agree with the point that an art degree isn't going to give me a lot of money, but that's not why I am in school for it.
Furthermore, art school is more than just taking some classes. It forces you to look at the world a different way. It puts you through a crucible of creation, where you are constantly forced to use your brain in a way most people don't use. A particularly disciplined person could achieve this on their own, but they'd still need a mentor or teacher figure to help guide them.
Even so, there are aspects to art school that is hard to replicate on one's own. For example the community surrounding art school. You are in a place that is oversaturated with people just as committed, just as passionate about art and design as you are. From the moment you wake up to the moment you close your eyes, you are in an environment where you are thinking about art, talking about it, making it, looking at it, judging it, reading about it. It engages the entirety of your existence. The way my brain processes visual information is radically different coming out of my first year in college that it did going into it. I had been a self taught designer and artist for my whole life, and in the first semester I grew to be twice the artist and designer that I was.
So, yeah, you could watch a bunch of youtube videos, read a bunch of books, maybe join an art club or something, but you'd be hard pressed to create an environment comparable to what you'd get at an art school.
Also you mentioned getting in to uni on your highschool grades alone, idk if it's different in the US but all of the colleges in my state require SAT or ACT scores to get in and we have a statewide scholarship program where one of the requirements is a REDICULOUSLY HIGH SAT score. Basically, the SAT sucks and too much weight is put onto it
I don't know what state you live in, but here in Virginia, there are multiple colleges that are test-optional. Some of the colleges do say that applying test-optional will make it harder to get admission or/and college level classes are necessary for you to have already taken
thatchickwiththehair canada is a blessing like that. Most schools look exclusively at your “Top 6” average, so your 6 best grade 12 classes. Some programs like engineering require supplemental applications or video interviews or whatever but for the most part its just your school performance.
Not sure where you are but the college I’ll be attending next year basically said they don’t want it. One person explicitly told me I can send it but it won’t make a difference.
To clarify, I’m in the US and I saw a lot of reputable test optional schools during my college search.
Let me clarify, I'm talking about public universities only. When I was applying to college on no planet would I have been able to afford a private University so I didn't even look into them and I don't know what their policies are on these types of things.
Just sharing my feelings. I did terribly in school because of my large amount of absences due to mental illness. I got a 1300 on the SAT, but i also got really ill after that. I went to college for a year and missed the maximum of 3 absent days and went home. Now I'm trying to go to my community college this year, mostly so I can defer loans, which doesn't cost nearly as much. Most people told me if I go to community college I will not get anywhere. I think I'm starting to realize how much more I learn on my own by reading books, looking at online resources, keeping up with news, and practicing my skills by myself or with a friend. I just can't believe how much school made my issues worse in my life. I still can't think about school without serious anxiety, but hopefully that will change.
Where I come from (Chile) we've got this exact same issue. The test for university admissions has changed its name like a lot of times and it always ends up being discriminatory: you got wealth, you get to go to a nice (private) school and then you pay for a preparation school for the test and then you're done. If you're poor, good luck trying to get there.
I’m currently a junior in high school, and most of my friends from upper class families are doing ACT and SAT prep tutoring. Most of them have already taken the ACT 2 or 3 times, even though our school offers it for free in a couple weeks. It’s ridiculous the kids who can afford it can perform better, and that kids feel the need to prepare like this in the first place. Also, these tests don’t reflect intelligence at all. I’m a good standardized test taker because I can work fast well. My friends who are much better students than me but work slower get much lower scores than me. All in all, the ACT and SAT prove nothing.
LydTheKid not arguing, but you don’t have to take prep classes to do well on these tests. Khan academy offers courses and you can get practice tests to find out what you don’t know. These are free options that I used to study, and honestly time management is the most import part of the test.
Oh the prepscholar blog is also really helpful to understanding the question ;) gl
yet. we, the students and many others from the future are condemn by this school system.
Exactly. Im a senior in hs and i took it once bc i hated the whole experience so much. Its ridiculous and proves literally nothing. Also they changed the curriculum to common core but refuse to change the tests to reflect that so kids like me who werent gifted enough to stay on the traditional path are stuck with math problems they've never seen seen before
Lydia Oakleaf its actually proven to be a good intelligence test with iq scores being very correlated to higher sat scores
As someone who's going through high school right now, that last part was very accurate, the education system focuses on getting good scores on inefficient tests and not on teaching you. I probably couldn't answer the questions on last semester's test easily, because of how much cramming they make you do. It feels like I'm being treated as a statistic and a number rather than a person. I love education and I try to research things outside of school but I can say with confidence, school makes learning painful.
I really appreciate the time you took to make this video.
Damn your dead right: "Any weight on the SAT is a reminder of discrimination" is a perfectly accurate explanation of the SAT's tainted history making the wealthy class wealthier, further separating these classes in the US and other countries. I wonder if it contributes to wealth in equality? Shit gots to change, thank God someone found out what it is!
Did you know that black students who benefit from affirmative action, which simply lowers the required SAT score, are way more likely to drop out than black students who do not? Colleges are not ranked based on quality, but on competition, much like weight classes in boxing. The heavy weight division might be more prestigious, but putting a light weight in the ring isn't going to end well.
@@hlaw2830 I didn’t, thx
@@spacejunky4380 Yup, though "legacy" does contribute to class separation during enrollment to some degree; that said, is wealth inequality a real problem? Like, how does someone buying a Bugatti harm you? Because that guy paid off the R&D bill for the transmission in my Golf.
Honestly I would say it does the opposite. It attempts to put everyone on equal footing, and it does that better than almost anything else considered for admissions
you're*
as in you're still failing english exam
Watching you take the test was cathartic af lol!
Rap Critic!? I didn't expect to see you here!
One thing I’ve also realized is that college accessibility is very different depending on where you live. The most common standardized test where I grew up was the ACT, and that was the only test the schools prepared you for or gave you opportunities to take. The SAT was really only something that upper class people did bc you have to go out of your way to take it, the opportunities to take it were limited, and it costed quite a lot of money. Most colleges in the south accepted both ACT and SAT scores from students, but most schools in other places such as the west and east coasts, only accepted SAT scores, significantly reducing the amount of opportunities most people here have.
I love the channels videos. Not just Sabrina's, but all if theirs. They do the videos about things they're passionate to find out about, and it really shows. Specifically this video got me hypnotized because of the way she spoke with a passionate tone in her voice, and I just knew she had done her research. Almost felt like an essay, but better.
It doesn’t help that this one test is the standard that they look at. I’ve taken the SAT and ACT once each: 1190 on SAT and 28 on ACT. Apparently a 28 is equivalent to 1310-1340 on the SAT, but my mom is signing me up for SAT prep and not ACT prep, which would be time better spent because it’s the test I did better in naturally. It’s just real annoying
@Rin Rin depends on where you are applying some schools take ACT but not SAT.
As a high school student in the U.S, I love when people outside the U.S. get pissed with the SAT. Its honestly really satisfying bc I agree with most of the things said in this video
I got surprised when I first learned about the SAT's, since in my country we have something very similar. I'm in Brazil and our test is called ENEM. It goes on for about a week, each test on that week has about 3 subjects, it's also about 100 questions... I'm a freshman right now so I'm just trying to avoid it.
In Canada we honestly just use your grade 11 and 12 marks. Sometimes programs require taking a certain class (university level English rather than college level English high school courses) and some might have tests, essays, interviews, or portfolio submissions. But no standardized tests to get into post secondary.
I hate hate hate taking tests. I'm also good at it and it's only reason I passed high school and got into college, because I never have the energy to actually do homework save projects outside of school which is not exactly the best thing for my grades. Fun
You know it’s also funny, I scored below average for entry to community college. Calculus One required a better score, but an appeal with proof of my good high school transcript completely bypassed the SAT. The teacher saw my merit which I’m grateful for as I have a bachelors degree at the age of 22 ish
I'm not going to lie--I definitely agreed with a lot of stuff you said in the video, especially the things regarding the cost of the SAT and how much money they make. I don't know if I totally agree with the conclusion of the video, though. I went to a very very easy high school. I've talked to people who went to other schools and they had far more challenging curricula then I had. I took advantage of every advanced class available, but it was nothing like what some other people have. The SAT, for me, was a really good way to differentiate myself from other students. I only ever studied for it from books, and I did really well, I ended up doing really well (weird flex but ok). Having a standardized metric for my scholastic ability was really useful because my school just didn't offer it. Yes, I could have involved myself in my community to differentiate myself--and I did! I just think that having the SAT added another level. So I'm not sure about ditching the SAT just yet. I do hope it keeps improving over time, though.
I had a 3.2 GPA in High School, got a 1300 (when max was 1600) aaaaaannnnnnd then promptly failed out of college. I'm really good at taking tests. SKill at going to class when I'm taking my last two years of high school all over again? Not so much. I'm so glad I graduated long ago and aren't dealing with all of y'alls total nonsense now. Good vid, cheers.
That's me; I excel at taking tests
On my high school exams I scored between 70% and 95% on every single subject (so my bad ones were closing in on 70%)
On my university that didn't believe in tests but in project-driven education instead... I SUCKED! I had to be good at something for the first time!
I had to finish high school in cyber school because I was failing, granted due mostly to sensory processing disorder, but somehow I’m getting all A’s in college as computer science? That is after I originally did bad in college, dropped out, worked for two years and realized what I wanna do. I’m convinced the system is set up for people to fail, it doesn’t have any room for the fact that everybody is smart but not everyone’s brain works the same way
I broke down into tears in the no calculator section :/ also the SAT is really ableist and classist for so many reasons, namely not offering appropriate options to people with undiagnosed mental disorders, or even some diagnosed ones, and it exists behind a paywall. It's so frustrating lol
Ableist? Yes, it's supposed to measure potential to succeed in college. Of course that's going to be easier for "able" people.
Not everything can be accommodating for people with disabilities. That's why they're called disabilities.
If it wasn't "ableist", it would have no validity at all
It's free for those who can't afford it. If you have an undiagnosed mental disorder, the first step is to get it diagnosed
"I have a mental disorder but I have no proof that I have a mental disorder. Accommodate me anyway." That had to be the most entitled part of your comment.
Get diagnosed then lol. Also, a test created to assess how able you are is going to be ableist by design in some ways. If you're mentally challenged in the sense that you have a lower than average iq, you will probably score poorly on the SAT. It's designed for you to score poorly. I can agree with you when it comes to things like Autism and ADHD, but again, if you are diagnosed, there is accommodation for these.
Well done, Sabrina! I went in as a skeptic, but you thoroughly convinced me of your point
the answer to every question in this video is
*jazz hands, long musical note*
corporate greeeeeeed
Then explain why SAT scores, and IQ scores, are both extremely predictive of success in college?
@@Malignus68 did you not listen to the part where she referenced two studies that proved that the SAT is only slightly better at proving scholastic success when compared to your high school transcripts?
J L N imagine being a fan of the SAT
"Crazy Rich Caucasians"
This sounds oddly familiar. Like some kind of book movie adaptation thing.
“Oh wait no, 3+2 isn’t 6!”
I feel that so much
I did ACT and SAT back in 2012 and the sheer stress from it gave me a chronic tic disorder and was so insecure my senior year of high school because of it and getting weird looks and my parents didn’t understand what I was going though. I was just told to stop having tics.
Hearing people talk about SATs (ess-ey-tees) is always vaguely confusing to me because over here in the UK the SATS (sats) are the exam we have at the end of primary school
Edit: Sabrina yelling "I got this wrong! No I didn't! What!? What!?" Is such a mood
Its the same in America. People just aren’t smart enough so they complain.
Tyler Gordon primary school is elementary and SATs have been proven to be inefficient and ineffective
I think people that are complaining about “oh some people are bad at taking tests” are wrong (I was very bad at taking tests when younger but I learned strategies and now I’m pretty good). However, I don’t like the monopolization of education that the SAT puts in place. My school offered a $90 SAT course (extremely cheap by most standards) but my family STILL couldn’t afford it. SAT should cost money because there are people behind the SAT that work to make it possible, however there should be other options (maybe cost less, maybe have other tests available).
But one thing with standardized test is that you need to make sure most, at least a lot of people take it so it's comparable. It's OK when you have a few (let's say 2-5) different tests, but when there are 20 different tests that the university need to compare and understand, it's just gonna be a nightmare for everyone
You might just be the true enemy or assisting enemy behind the egregious reputation of our education system. First of all, way to attack your own family just because they can't afford some dumb sat prep course, which is literally the price of an athlean x program, which is far more worth-while to not only train your body the way it works but your brain as well believe it or not (bye bye adhd and dyslexia etc.). Then you feel sympathy for the sat admins who leech off of our funds when we have a lot of pressure preparing and going into college which is laughable.
I wish I had found this when this came out so I could’ve used this to help w my senior project, it has a lot of ideas in common
I loved the sat my grades weren’t the best during the pandemic and I used that as motivation and scored in the 87th percentile for the sat. Now I can boost my grades for senior year and have a better chance of getting into a better school for college.
Honestly, I don't understand the reason in having the SAT, if we already have a high school exit exam thats just like the SAT but free and has problems that build upon each other.
It annoys me that during Junior year, we have a crapton of tests to take on top of trying to do well on them. While, still attempting to have a balance personal and academic life.
standardized across countries. thats why gpa is a hard merit to judge cuz it depends on your teacher
My school has no competent state testing, so they just started using the SAT to gather data on the school.
The reason is that there are a lot of students with decent grades. They can't all go to college because there's likely not enough room to accommodate them all. Therefore they need some bullshit way to weed people out.
It has been a few years since I last watched one of your videos, and I have to say, I am very impressed with the increase in production quality, and quality of presentation. You've really improved, and now I'm pretty sure that I will be watching most of your uploads from here on.
I hate to stand up for "standardized tests" because they're creating a problem instead of solving one, kinda leaving you with two problems. But... The bigger problem is that grades in high school really don't ... mean ... anything. You can make assumptions, but they can easily be false ones. Honestly, just looking at which classes you chose says a lot more than the actual GPA. So testing, as awful as it is, is at least theoretical proof of a minimum of understanding. I can't blame anyone for wanting that. But honestly, I think an ASVAB test is a lot more useful to students. Not to prove what they know, but to show them what they might actually be good at, what they might enjoy or hate, to choose a fulfilling career.
YOu confuse standardized with valid. SAT is invalid standardized test.
The book written in 2000 was actually written TWO versions of the SAT ago. Before the 2400 point scale SAT, the test was originally 1600 points and had an infamous analogies section. I had the…pleasure…of taking both the old 1600 and the old 2400.
I just now realized that I have been to two colleges and neither asked for my SAT scores. the first one did have me take a test to figure out where I was education wise, and the second used my grades from the first as proof that I was worthwhile. And neither were community colleges or low quality schools. Within their fields, both colleges were fairly prestigious.
My high school district had a grant so that all juniors could take the ACT for free. This is fine and dandy, and while my district was pretty diverse, it was largely upper-middle class white kids. Only one of the 7 or 8 high schools consistently had no problem meeting Re--integration diversity standards. The grant was a start, but west-Valley Phoenix suburbs was probably the wrong demographic
Not gonna lie, I loved taking the SAT. It was like pure adrenaline for me when I was trying to get an 800 in math (I was so close lol) but I know everyone has their own struggles so I think the test should be more open to accommodations for students.
I totally agree I would even take it just for fun
Same for me, but with the South African MAT. I also found it fun but I got a 97%.
I graduated Highschool in 2011... I have never been good at testing because of severe anxiety. When I had to take my SAT/ACT it was held at a school I had never been to, rooms painted bright lime green, the test started at 6 in the morning, and you are locked out if you show up late... I worked my ass off and still got a C average ( I was proud because I had low expectations). Turns out when I got into University that I would have to drop out because of a number of unforeseen complications. I became horribly depressed because during Christmas break my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer and shortly after my sister nearly died from a blood clot to the lung (do to birth control pills); I couldn't focus when I went back because I was scared my family would disappear without me being there for them, I ended up failing a few classes and they put me on academic probation. To top it all off, my GPA fell too low for the coming year to qualify for the little bit of government loaned money I had previously received and I could no longer afford to even continue school once my probation was lifted. What I took away from my experience is that higher education is a scam (nothing more than a business); they don't see you as anything other than a way to make money and if you screw up even once, they will snatch any form of hope away from you without a second look. Unless you come from a rich family; don't go to school.
amazing video. also i really don’t think the SAT is still necessary. I personally tested pretty horribly. I paid over $1,800 in both preparing and taking the SAT, and unfortunately, still fell short in the score I so persistently sook out. I feel the SAT did not measure my skills, seeing as I tested just fine in regular school, graduating with high honors in the top fifth of my class with a 4.3 GPA, getting 5’s on more than three of the College Board’s AP exams (passing the remaining eight), and finally: currently in college with a 4.0. School isn’t my life. I just love to learn. I feel that the SAT test is for those who go out of their way to love testing vs real learning, which takes longer than three hours to prove. But on the other hand, I feel that the SAT does an excellent job at showing Universities which students would do the most to please societal standards. Interestingly enough, once we all graduate college and enter the work field, that score we once so deeply cared about will become nothing, and those who look past the numbers and believe in themselves for their real skills will be the ones who rise👍🏼 At least in this way, good students can eventually get what they deserve and the testing industry can keep growing that dough$$$$ (oh and big ivy league universities can keep accumulating students who care about pleasing standards- or who r just smarter than me lmao)
Tests aren’t perfect, but you have to have some objective way to measure a student’s ability. Strictly using high school GPA would be extremely unfair, because every high school is different. Some schools have stricter policies than others. If you think the SAT is bad, what alternative would you recommend?
My recommendation for all students wanting to take the SAT is to find free test prep resources online and at the library. That’s what I did when I was studying for the ACT. You don’t have to be rich to study.
Cassandra Day in person interviews, place more emphasis on useful electives which give you actual skills, place more emphasis on extracurricular activities, create some way to tell which students are good, intelligent people, and not good test takers.
Caleb Otero None of these really measure intelligence
mastertoad2 that’s true, but neither does the SAT. I think that measuring the content of a person character is better than measuring how well they can answer trivia questions.
Caleb Otero unfortunately, I think that making admissions criteria more subjective would make the process less fair, not more. How do you objectively measure a student’s character? Interviews and essays open up room for a lot of bias and inconsistency. Plus most schools already look at essays, extra-curricular activities, etc. If we had an alternative to the SAT that was more fair and accurate, I would be in favor of it. But I don’t know what that is.
Rework the SAT from a one-day test to a week-long project, the subject of it being declared at the start of it. Gear the project topic to be random each time so the focus is on researching a topic, having problem-solving skills to solve the problem it poses, and other such values that you want in a successful academic student.
Additionally, we do need to stop pushing kids into higher education. Not everyone is an academic, and putting a requirement, like in the UK, for academic success and such on vocational-only courses like bricklaying, plumbing, etc...Well, you can probably fill in the blanks there.
Researching, problem-solving, teamwork...Are what I would personally gear the week project around.
That last bit about how schools isn't about learning, but about passing a test is so true. I really enjoyed my Spanish classes, even though I wasn't the best at them. I wanted to take Spanish 3 my Junior year of High School, but I wasn't certain about my passing and how much a C would affect my GPA. At the end of the day, I ended up not taking Spanish because I wouldn't be able to pass the tests necessarily. It was infuriating. That type of thing happens all the time where school ends up being more about tests and grades instead of actual learning. It's made it so going to college seems odd. Like, why would I choose this difficult class that teaches something important when I could not. I've been taught school isn't about learning, so when school finally is somewhat about learning, it's odd.
Don't you love it when the school system completely gives up on an idea because it's too hard to come up with a solution for it, but still keeps the idea in place because it's "important"