SAT-Three letters, which, in combination, quicken any high school student's pulse while turning his or her knuckles white. It takes three hours to finish and has possible life altering implications. Approximately 60 million students have already put their wits to the test. This year an additional 1.3 million will join their ranks. 

It seems as if everyone has his or her opinions regarding the SAT. Parents, students, industry officials, and high school and college officials have long been debating the merits of this annual rite of passage. Is it necessary? Is it biased? Is it used properly? What does it truly predict? What does it demonstrate?

The Scholastic Assessment Test was formerly known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Its (current) full name states its purpose well, assessing the abilities of college-bound students-a concept that is not only attractive to higher education institutions but to higher education industries. The question of "use" is a real one that permeates many facets of a student's road to higher education. Different groups choose to use this examination in different ways. There is no right or wrong answer for its use. One thing is certain: the SAT is so ingrained that removing it from a dependent society would be a daunting task. Its residue would be indelible, and society, should the test disappear, will surely continue to seek an alternate form of the SAT.

Early Origins

Carl Campbell Brigham, the original creator of the SAT, and at that time, a believer in eugenics, was a social scientist and an expert in the early study of intelligence testing by the Army. In his book, A Study of American Intelligence, Brigham explained his theory of intelligence. He believed that there were three distinct white races in Europe: Mediterranean, Alpine, and Nordic. According to Brigham, these races were superior in terms of intelligence as proven by his testing. To Brigham, the test results resembled a social order. He stated, "American intelligence is declining, and will proceed with an accelerating rate as the racial mixture becomes more and more extensive." Brigham argued that the results of Army intelligence tests offered strong support to the eugenics movement.1

On June 26, 1926, under the auspices of the College Board, Brigham introduced the SAT in an effort to validate his theory of intelligence and to find out if such tests were able to predict a future outcome-such as students' grades in their first year of college. The Army decided to use the test for its West Point applicants; in addition, more than 8,000 high school students in the Northeast took the test. In 1930, the Navy followed suit by administering the test for Annapolis applicants. Yale and Princeton soon signed on, as well as Yale Law School, which adapted the SAT for its applicants.