Unpopular Science - 240114 SAT

Links and ideas about IQ that will make you unpopular

After several years promoting the policy that colleges should drop SAT entrance requirements, now The New York Times is wondering whether that was a bad idea. They point out that, despite its drawbacks, “Standardized test scores are a much better predictor of academic success than high school grades.” Who knew?

There are plenty of reasons that IQ — and its proxy test, the SAT — matters for college success, but you already know that. Personal scientists like tests because any time we can get a quantitative measure of something, it helps eliminate the bias that can come with subjective measures like how well the admissions officer liked your essay. Of course, we recognize the limitations of testing too — we’re skeptical about everything, remember? — and we’re open-minded about other approaches, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

That said, any time we enter the IQ debate, we risk saying something unpopular….