Why should the economic advantage of higher income students not extend to test scores? Obviously, being able to buy your way into the school of your choice is a right. Sadly, the College Board condones all sorts of behavior of this type by being the only game in town and colleges feed into the process. I grow increasingly upset and disgusted by the way that tests and test scores are used to sort students at every level. We are testing students to death and the knowledge level of all of them is not improving one bit.

Is this really a change? I seem to remember that when I was applying to college they took the best SAT score that you had to make the application decision even if they saw all of your test scores. I know that people took the SATs multiple times. The change I see is in the number of test preparation services that exist for students that have the money. If these make a big difference in test scores that's where I'd say the injustice lies.

As far as being tested (and practice tested) so much more than in the past...I'll agree that's the case for middle and elementary school, but I'm not sure about high school. Mid-terms, finals, unit tests, SATs...these have always been a big part of high school. They've added the HSAs and those seem to have some amount of associated practice tests, but given that we're talking about single subject areas that are spread across the four years of high school I don't see it being that big of an impact. It seems a lot less intense than all the work that went into the MSAs - every year and in every subject there's work on BCRs. I'm glad that at least one of my kids is through with MSAs!

Last time I checked, the test is around $50. Anyone who is unable to invest $150 to take the test 3 times will most likely not have the means to attend a top level institution. Success in life comes from sacrifice. Perhaps the students in question could forego expensive shoes or clothes to pay for the tests. Better yet, perhaps they could get a job.

The writer above is correct in stating that the real economic disparity in this test arises due to the SAT prep industry. Wealthier students can afford to pay several thousand dollars to receive tutoring which often leads to much higher scores. My question is this - Why is that wrong? People who value education are willing to pay to get the best for their children. We as a nation expect everything to be handed to us and are unwilling to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow.

I watch numerous people spend much more money on club sports, sports camps, etc., hoping that their child gets a scholarship. All the while, they neglect to focus on the academic side and wonder why their child is unable to get a scholarship with a C average and a 1350/2400 on the SAT.