515 East 72nd Street, New York, NY 10021
E-mail: director@theivycoach.com
Tel: (212) 600-0312
Please complete the consultation form prior to calling.

Archive for: Summer SAT Exam

Summer SAT

Summer SAT Test, Summer SAT Exam, SAT Exam at Amherst, SAT Summer Exam at Amherst College

There will be no summer SAT at Amherst College. The College Board has canceled the unfair test. And, no, there’s not actually snow on the ground during the summer at Amherst.

The summer SAT that The College Board intended to offer to a select group of students at an Amherst College summer program has now officially been canceled. Citing concerns that such an SAT administration would not support equity in education, they eliminated it. We think they couldn’t take another day of such negative press! It would have been the first time in decades that a summer SAT was offered but to offer it to only a select group of students who could afford a $4,500 program was just plain wrong. It’s an advantage to take the SAT over the summer. Students aren’t busy with studying for exams. They’re not busy with schoolwork. And the fact that The College Board was planning on reporting to colleges that the August 3rd test-takers completed a June administration of the exam was highly unethical.

According to “USA Today,” “Tuesday, the College Board sent a letter to Barbara Swicord, president of the group’s Summer Institute for the Gifted, saying it cannot proceed with the program because it ‘does not serve our organization’s mission of expanding access and equity in education,’ and ‘certain aspects of the (summer program) run counter to our mission as well as our beliefs about SAT preparation and performance.’” We’d say so, too!

The least The College Board could have done was cancel this SAT administration. But does their PR nightmare end now? Has The College Board been tarnished? And, while we’ve asked it before — we’ll ask it again, what were they thinking? An SAT for the rich? An SAT for the gifted and talented? Who is making decisions at The College Board? It sounds like a resignation is in order.

Summer SAT Exam

A summer SAT exam will be offered this August 3rd at Amherst College. If you’re not familiar with SAT exam scheduling, there is no summer SAT. But The College Board wanted to run a pilot test, to see if administering SAT exams over the summer was something they should consider doing in the future. Like The College Board, we love to analyze data and running a pilot test is often a feasible and practical way to see if something works (or if it doesn’t). So administering an SAT exam in one location this August 3rd doesn’t seem outrageous to us…until we read that the exam will be administered at a $4,500 summer program for “gifted students” (a.k.a. they’ll take your money in exchange for calling your child gifted and boosting your ego) at Amherst College.

Summer SAT Test, Summer SAT, SAT in the Summer, Summer SAT Testing, Summer Test for SAT

The SAT will be offered to a select group this coming August 3rd.

Why do a pilot test on a sampling population that is definitely not a random sample? Most students (and by students, we mean their parents) don’t pay for $4,500 summer programs at one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges (Amherst College is a regular at the top of “US News & World Report’s” Best Liberal Arts Colleges). What kind of sham pilot test is this that The College Board is offering? Did they not think that this would cause a little bit of uproar? If they didn’t think this, we’re happy at The Ivy Coach to surprise them. We just love to get under The College Board’s skin.

Offering a summer SAT exam might well be a good idea. Students aren’t under a lot of pressure over the summer months. They’re not in the middle of taking classes and studying for exams. It all seems quite logical. We don’t have an issue with The College Board offering a summer SAT testing date. And we don’t have an issue with The College Board piloting the summer test with only one testing site. However, we do have issue with the absolutely non-random sample that they chose. What were they thinking? This is a potential PR mess for them. Oy vey.

Check out this post on another SAT test administration.