Roosevelt juniors had the opportunity to take the SAT in school on March 3. The SAT allows students to shine and stand out in their college admissions. 

“The SAT is always important. It not only helps you with your placement in college when you apply, but it also gives you an opportunity to qualify for different scholarships,” said Carleather Ponder, the SAT prep instructor and Builds coordinator.  

Applying to college is a multi-faceted process, which can play to students’ advantage. 

“Oftentimes when colleges are evaluating candidates, to see who is going to get accepted and who is not, they look at your GPA (Grade Point Averages), SAT scores, recommendations, what kind of community service you did, all of those things,” college and career coordinator Donald Wilhite said.  

Many students tend not to understand why the SAT is a component in the admission process because they do not see the importance of the test in the first place.  

“So, your SAT score is an opportunity to make up for possibly some parts of your application that might not be as strong,” Wilhite said.  

According to the College Board’s SAT study guide, the SAT will not ask about basic facts, but something that requires you to exercise your thinking skills. It is not about memorization. Some high school courses elevate thinking skills, and colleges are looking for students who are skilled thinkers. The test is designed to measure students’ thinking skills that are needed to be successful in college and future careers.  

“The SAT tries to align itself with the stuff that you guys learn in high school so a lot of things that you are working on every day in class – reading and writing and algebra and statistics – that is the stuff that is going to be on the SAT,” Wilhite said.  

Being prepared for the SAT is crucial. Roosevelt students reported a variety of test prep strategies.  

“For me it was honestly just studying and going over notes from classes,” junior Trevon Ray said.  

Junior Ladarius Ratliff took a different approach. “I slept the night before,” he said.  

College Board also provides SAT prep to students for free. The practice with tell you your strengths and weaknesses through their partnership with Khan academy. Khan Academy helps students to prepare for the SAT at their own pace. It also provides you with tips and tricks that you can take with you to the test. 

“I use Khan Academy whenever I’m teaching. I use Khan Academy because it’s a self-paced-type assessment for them,” Ponder said. 

Although the SAT helps you standout during your college admission and provides you with a terrific opportunity for different scholarships, the SAT can be biased towards people of color and girls.  

In their 2009 book “Still Failing at Fairness,” David Sadker and Karen Zittleman note that boys scored 10 points higher on the SAT than girls in mathematics as far back as 1967. In 2020, the gap was 15 points, but it has been as high as 41 points,” wrote Nadra Nittle, Education reporter for the 19th newsletter.  

The SAT is not any different from any other standardized test because it is timed like any other test that is taken in high school.  

“A lot of kids do not do well on the timed testing. So that hurts them, but if they practice, practice and practice correctly, then they will get used to the time and become more relaxed in it,” said Ponder.  

Changes are coming to the SAT.  

“Passages for reading on the test will also be shorter, with fewer questions, and students will be able to use calculators for the whole of the test’s math section” wrote Lexi Mcmenamin, author of Teen Vogue.