The Vermont Connection - Volume 29 - The Sorting Hat: SATs and College Access - Dark Side of Standardized Tests

Sep 14, 2026

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Standardized tests, especially the SAT, are scrutinized for failing as reliable predictors of college success and for narrowing access through race- and income-based score differences. As test preparation expands, high spending further widens achievement gaps. The paper argues that using scores grants an illusion of merit while obscuring unequal opportunity, then examines how college admissions—through GPAs, interviews, essays, and numbers—may advantage some students and leave others behind. It also traces the SAT’s historical move toward elite signaling.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

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The Sorting Hat: SATs and College Access

Standardized tests under scrutiny

The "dark side" and standardized test illusion

High-stakes college admissions

History of the Big Test: Conant and Chauncey

From aptitude testing to elite status

12 • The Vermont Connection • 2008 • Volume 29 The Sorting Hat: SATs and College Access Rachel de Simone Standardized tests are under scrutinyfor no longer being reliable, validpredictors of college success. Because scores differ markedly based on race, income, and opportunity, their use in college admissions reduces access for students of color and students from lower income families. With the surge in SAT preparation, some students spend thousands of dollars to improve their score, further widening the score gap. Tests like the SAT give the illusion of achievement by merit, rewardprivilege, and mask differences in opportunity. In this paper I will explore the “dark side” of standardized tests and the relationship of the SATs to college access for students of color and students from lower income families. The sorting out of individuals according to ability is very nearly the most delicate and difficult process our society has to face. Those who receive the most education are going to move into virtually all the key jobs. Thus the question “Who should go to college?” translates itself into the more compelling question “Who is going to manage the society?” That is not the kind of question one can treat lightly or cavalierly. It is the kind of question wars have been fought over.” -John Gardner (as quoted in Lemann, 1999, p. 348) College admissions can be a high-stakes gamble. Admissions committees read essays, interview students, and comb through recommendations trying to predict which students will be successful at a given college or university. Sometimes this prediction is based upon “fit” and prior accomplishments. Other times, this prediction is based upon numbers. But can grade point averages (GPAs) and SATs really predict a student’s success? If they can, which students are prepared to achieve the high numbers expected at top colleges? In an educational culture where money can buy a high score, who is benefiting from standardized tests and admissions and who is getting left out? In this paper I will explore the “dark side” of standardized tests and the relationship of the SATs to college access for students of color and students from lower income families. History of the Big Test James Bryant Conant, President of Harvard from 1933 to 1953, wanted to use Rachel de Simone graduated from Colgate University with a degree in psychology. She is a secondy-ear HESA student with an assistantship in First-Year Programs in Student Life. In herpast lives she’s worked as a counselorfor at-risk youth, in residential life in Italy, and, most recently, in admissions at Bennington College. Her research interests include college access, lowincome and first-generation students’ experiences, and women’s leadership. de Simone • 13 education to create a new aristocracy not based on class and inheritance, buton scholastic aptitude (Lemann, 1999) . He believed this new aristocracy would become public servants and work for the greater good of society (Perry, Brown,& Sawrey, 2004; Lemann, 1999) . At the time, Harvard drew applicants from a select number of local private schools. Admission decisions were subjective and based more upon merit (i.e. character, manliness, athletics, family) than scholarship. This policy allowed colleges to pick students from “proper” backgrounds, further solidifying the advantages for those in the aristocracy (Karabel, 2005) . Moving away from this elite practice, Conant wanted to reform higher education by recruiting talented students from outside of Harvard’s traditional feeder schools. He established a scholarship program for talented male students from the mid-western United States, and charged Henry Chauncey, Assistant Dean, with developing a standardized measure of applicants. Chauncey, future founder of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and psychometrics aficionado, adapted an early form of the SAT to select scholarship students. Conant and Chauncey chose the SAT because they believed,“

FAQs

Why does the paper question standardized tests as predictors of college success?

Scores vary sharply by race, income, and opportunity, and the paper argues that these tests therefore do not reliably reflect students’ future success in college.

How can SAT preparation affect inequality in access to college?

Because some students spend thousands to raise their scores, the preparation boom can widen the score gap and reduce equity in admissions outcomes.

How did the SAT expand from scholarship selection to broader admissions use?

Harvard leadership and Henry Chauncey developed a standardized measure based on an early SAT form, and the test gradually replaced other college board decisions as a standard entrance exam.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Graffin