SAT

SAT (formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test), a multiple-choice exam, consisting of math and verbal components. Invented by Carl C. Brigham, the SAT was first administered experimentally to high school students in 1926. In 1934, Harvard University began using the exam as a means of selecting scholarship students. Following World War II, the SAT expanded, becoming part of the admissions process at universities and colleges throughout the country. Despite criticisms that it is biased against women, students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds, the SAT continued to thrive in the twenty-first century and was administered to more than two million students each year. In June 2002, significant changes to the exam were approved, including making the math section more difficult, the addition of an essay section, and an increase in the total possible score from 1600 to 2400.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lemann, Nicholas. The Big Test: The Secret History of American Meritocracy. New York: Farrar, Straus, 1999.

Justin T. Lorts

See also Educational Testing Service ; Intelligence Tests .

Sat (Skt., ‘being’, ‘essence’, ‘right’). Absolute, unqualified Being in Hinduism, and thus identical with Brahman. In ethics it means ‘good’, in epistemology ‘true’. It is combined with cit and ānanda in the basic formula saccidānanda.

SAT In the USA, acronym for Scholastic Aptitude Test, a nationwide test taken by high-school students wanting to go to university. In the UK, acronym for Standard Assessment Task, nationwide tests taken by school children at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16 to examine their progress with the National Curriculum. See also aptitude test

SAT / ˈes ˌā ˈtē/ • n. trademark a test of a student's academic skills, used for admission to U.S. colleges.

sat / sat/ • past and past participle of sit.