Get Smart: Fun facts about the SAT!

Did you know you can Google “funny SAT stories” and get several links that actually attempt to find humor in the SAT tests? I say “attempt” because nearly all stories involved bodily functions: needing to pee, fart, etc. The only remotely funny one was some poor test taker who was so nervous they threw up on the test itself. It’s just not an inherently funny subject. Which makes what Jenny Lyn Bader accomplished with None of the Above even more impressive. She wrote a charming comedy about the SAT! While there aren’t any humorous SAT stories readily available, there are some interesting facts.

1. SAT no longer stands for anything. It used to mean “Scholastic Achievement Test”, then “Scholastic Aptitude Test”, then “Scholastic Assessment Test”. Now? The letters officially are not an acronym for anything. Lots of academics spent long hours of debate to come to this conclusion. Which begs the question: don’t academics have anything better to do?!
2. George Bush touted the fact that SAT scores in Texas rose an average of 100 points during a single year of his term as governor. The real reason for the jump? The scale for scoring the test was changed that year (1994) to keep the average score close to 1000, which it has traditionally been. (This was before the maximum score was increased from 1600 to 2400.) So people got higher scores than they would have with the old scoring system. Not something to brag about!
3. Studies have shown that high school GPA is a more accurate predictor of success in college than the SAT. Maybe that’s why there are now hundreds of “test optional” colleges and universities across the country, including over a third of the nation’s top 100 liberal arts colleges.
4. Taking the test: Lots of “strategies” have been developed to try and maximize your score. Here are some that work and some that don’t:

• If you can eliminate even one of the answers as incorrect, it’s generally to your advantage to guess.
• Prepare for and complete the test without a calculator if you can. They waste time and are prone to input error.
• If you finish early, don’t spend the extra time second-guessing your answers!

There you have it… more than you ever wanted to know about the SAT. Now go show off your new-found knowledge and look smart!