Imagine one test having as much power to determine where you go in life. Well such a test really exists. It's the test that all high school students dread; the monster of all tests - the Standardized Aptitude Test, also known as the SAT. The SAT plays a significant role in the acceptance in a college and in financial aid. It is also a major obstacle for many minorities in this country who have shown to do worse on the test. I do not feel that one single score can convey everything about how you will perform in an academic setting, nor does it measure a person's readiness for college. The SAT shouldn't even exist.
             § There was a case in California where students in waged legal battles on two fronts over what they contended were unequal opportunities in higher education. Eight black, Latino and Filipino American students sued UC Berkeley, accusing the university of California's flagship campus of discriminatory policies that kept them from being admitted in 1998. That suit contended that Berkeley's admissions officers gave too much weight to the SAT achievement tests.
             § Also the National Center for Fair and Open Testing recently uncovered troubling data regarding Florida's Bright Futures Scholarship program. Proportionately few African American and Latino high school graduates received a Bright Futures scholarship for the 1999-2000 school year as compared with their white and Asian American peers.
             The use of SAT and ACT score cut-offs to determine eligibility is a major reason why proportionately few African American and Latino students received these lucrative scholarships. Students must score 1270 or higher on the SAT, or 28 or higher the ACT, in order to qualify for Academic Scholars. . Yet in Florida the average SAT score was 857 for African Americans and 952 for Latinos, both of which are more than 300 points below the cut-off for the Academic Scholars Award. For Whites in Flo...