SAT

Stands for Scholastic Assessment Test. This test is required by most colleges, though some will accept the ACT instead. The SAT has come under much controversy, especially because so much weight is put on how well a student does on a single test. Many opponents of the exam have said that many students are creative, but cannot perform well on standardized tests. Also, it is now popularly believed that wealthy students can "buy" their SAT score. Many hire the best programs and tutors that money can afford to get high scores. As a result, there is a notable difference between races and social classes in their SAT scores. However, the SAT was revised as of 2005. Previously, the Math and Verbal SAT were on a scale of 800 (the scale starts at 200) separately, people often stated their score out of 1600, adding together both scores. The new SAT has many changes. Firstly, it has three catagories: Math, Critical Reading, and Writing, and therefore ones' total score would be out of 2400 rather than 1600. Also, the infamous analogies, a section that was particularly dreaded by high school juniors and seniors, have been removed. Finally, components of the SAT II: Writing have been combined, including the 25 minute essay. This section has been criticized as well, especially because only two graders read it once (Each grades on a scale of 0-6, and those two numbers are added together). The SAT is resented by many students and in recent years the ACT has become more popular, because of its more straight-forward testing approach. However, at the moment the SAT is still needed to apply to many colleges.