What is the SAT Adversity Rating?
The SAT scoring used to be fairly simple; students could score as high as 1600 with 800s on the Math and Reading/Writing sections. Yet, with a number of colleges currently facing affirmative action lawsuits, the College Board is considering a new adversity score program.
New Admissions Tool
The score, officially called the Environmental Context Dashboard, is calculated with several factors that take into account a student’s home conditions, their community and school system. Also factored in are the student’s local crime rate, poverty rate, if the student has only one parent, the families median income and more.
When the combined factors are weighed, the score adds up to an overall disadvantage level, scored out of 100, that only universities can view.
In 2018, over 50 schools tested out the program in their admissions processes. This year, the program will expand to 150 schools and is expected to be used even more broadly moving forward.
The initial report found that disadvantaged students were more likely to be admitted through use of the new system.
Reactions to the Score
The rival ACT says it is not realistic to determine adversity to a single number that adds value to a student’s application. Some predict parents will seek to manipulate numbers to help their children get a better adversity score, such as listing their home address in a low-income neighborhood and claiming a lower median income.
The new scoring system comes during difficult times for colleges that are dealing with questions concerning the impact race and wealth play in the admissions process. For example, Harvard University has been accused of discrimination against Asian Americans and federal investigators have uncovered a bribery scandal that compromised the admissions process at several prominent universities.
While many universities find the new data useful in better understanding a candidate’s background, others contend that while it has good intentions, the score is prone to manipulation and relying on the test alone.
Ivy Bound Test Prep continues to help students be successful on the SAT, despite its many changes in recent years. To get ahead on summer test prep, contact us today!
