Personally, I think standardized tests are a bane to society as they limit the possibility of the divergent, ever changing personality and talents of an invidual, but understand their purpose because of the need to judge in order to define entrance.
People say they are better at one thing than another are willing to fail one thing in order to purely succeed at another. This is not to say it is either a good or bad thing, but a happenstance that could snowball to a singularity of one talent rather than a multitude in order to culminate a diversity within a single person. By focusing, you get a variety of groups that are specialized expertly, but at the same time one find themselves stuck in that specialization and does not take the possiblity that other studies comes to play.
This is the issue in which standardized tests come in. Before they came in two flavors, whether you could read and quantitatively analyze (verbal and math separately). Next they found out that the nation's writing ability is lacking, so on top of the latest ability to read and analyze, the SAT had to predict whether the student could organize one's thoughts verily to communicate to another sane human being. In other words, could one's opinion on a specific subject be reflected clearly enough under stress to be analyzed and worked though. This is a necessary talent in which students upon entering high studies must learn. Quantitative analysis requires one to use the purest of logic to create formulas in with possibility within a set situation. Verbal analysis requires one to take a a multitude of situations, translate, and be able to clearly identify the argument/problem one has. These are two pursuits necessary internally, and relates to the translation and understanding within the mind. The issue now is, how can one translate outside the mind, which is thoroughly harder than one may seem. True a sane man, with sane tendencies can easily do both and convey information in a clear concise manner that allows the reader thorough knowledge on a specific argument. However, with people like me, and engineers abound, this ability is not existent or easily found. In a world that is growing ever more diverse, and ever more changing, the ability to organize one's thoughts quickly and under stress is extremely necessary, and is something I believe the SAT should reflect on.
The SAT is a basic standardized test meant to challenge up-and-coming scholars with the said ability to critically thing not only inward to understand the topic, but outward to express that understanding to a larger audience. It should not be created to be easier, but meant to realize for the current working/teaching generation that the next generation will be fine and that their ability on this test will reflect that. The fact that SAT's are eliminating it and dampening vocabulary...is worrisome and should be remarked on.
Truthfully, I did not do well in the verbal or essay sections, and my SAT was not above par according to typical Indian standards laid upon me. I regret being a lazy ass and not actually enjoying learning as I do now. I regret not trying my hardest to care about a subject like caring for a pet, willing to love as it it will love you in respect. I regret not trying....but that almost makes me worried about whether the next generation will try or whether I'm pushing them to hard. One can never tell. However the fact is, the world is dark, hellish place willing to replace everyone easily. We must strive to work together to help each other and improve constantly...never look back and dampen....but to harden and to grow through harder. If we do that, I completely believe and have hope in the next generation. Until then...I regret not having much yet.
Collegeboard = $$$
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