SAT Adversity Score

The CollegeBoard, a non-profit company that administers the SAT, a standardized test used in college admissions, has recently introduced the adversity score, a new feature to be placed alongside each test taker’s SAT g/rade. This score aims to calculate each candidate’s disadvantage level based on a number of factors ranging from median neighborhood income to the availability of AP classes at the candidate’s high school. It is measured on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 representing test takers with the greatest amount of hardship and 0 the test takers with the least amount of hardship. Similar to affirmative action, the adversity scores aims to decrease the uneven advantages that students of different socio-economic classes face, but the effort has received various criticisms. Some argue that the college board cannot truly measure someone’s personal struggles with a few data points while others say that the adversity score will unfairly disadvantages hard working students who happen to be considered privileged based on the college board’s standards. Do these objections raise a reasonable point or does the adversity score's merits outweigh its flaws? Now let’s enter the THINK RINK to hear what our youth thinkers have to say…