Points for ‘Adversity’: The SAT’s Lefty Makeover

THE ISSUE: The College Board’s decision to supplement SAT results with an “adversity score.”

The misguided social engineers just don’t get it (“‘Adversity’ Insanity,” Editorial, May 18).

The SAT adversity score is a form of affirmative action. If you admit someone to college who is not equipped to succeed because of an “adversity” bonus, the result will be very predictable: Most will not succeed. Coming from a poor area alone won’t help you pass a calculus exam. You need skills.

The real focus needs to be better K-12 education. Dumbing down requirements for advancement is the opposite of what should be done. We need to improve our system so students can get a better education. The focus has to be on improving the system, versus artificial crutches that won’t work in the world after school.

Larry Hootnick

Manhattan

The College Board will now weigh life adversity along with academic ability.

Rich parents have bribed colleges to admit their low-scoring kids. Will families now cheat by under-reporting income and pumping up neighborhood crime to impress admissions boards?

This could get interesting: High crime could be what gets you accepted to Stanford. Schellie Hagan Brooklyn

The whole point of a test is to assess one’s abilities and skills. The test is one part of the application equation. Schools also look at one’s community service, academic record, disciplinary actions, personal interviews and essays.

For the College Board to now add in additional adversity factors in order to play political scientist, psychologist and judge seems to detract from the whole point of taking a standardized test.

If the issue is that some students don’t have access to expensive test prep, then the states should cover those costs for everyone. Level the playing field and stop trying to figure out if one’s zip code influences their abilities. Stop trying to make things fair and equal with a flawed process.

We want to reward hard work and provide opportunity to all, but students need to perform well in school and on tests. Brian Feinblum New Rochelle

This is more ridiculous, political nonsense.

I can’t help but think educators in other countries are laughing their tails off. American educators go out of their way to water down the value of education in this country.

Gary Cella

Cos Cob

This new “adversity” factor is a joke.

Why do they insist on dumbing things down so that unqualified students can be placed where they potentially don’t belong?

Linda Calabrese

Brooklyn

The College Board’s decision is yet another move by the left to socially engineer outcomes.

Once, not so long ago, college admission for most schools was based primarily on merit.

The elites refuse to accept that there are always unintended consequences. This move will allow a tiny group of elitists on the College Board to decide who gets into college and who does not.

It is a terrifying consolidation of power, which they fully intended to use to shape the future.

James Barends

Wayne, Pa.

This change to the SATs smacks of left-wing socialism. Obviously, bright kids who work hard to score well but do not fall into the category of having experienced “adversity” will now have a stacked deck against them.

Is it right or fair that once-in-a-lifetime decisions affecting young people are now being made by a private, notfor-profit organization staffed by liberal, leftwing bureaucrats?

Yet, what are we to do? If you wish to attend college or have a child who will enroll, you are at the mercy of this flawed system. James Anderson Talladega, Ala.

What about the middleclass student who has a learning disability, like dyslexia, who works hard to attain success in school? What about the student who comes from a wealthy family but has vision or auditory problems?

Adversity ratings are just another way of establishing a quota system.

JJ Levine

Miami Beach, Fla.