SAT goes back to 1,600 scale, makes other major changes

It wouldn't cost a ton for a church or community group to hire an SAT tutor, and maybe charge a nominal fee to parents.

Korean and Chinese immigrants have done just this in NYC to prepare for the entrance exam for the City's elite magnet schools -- and were criticized for it.

Even if you correct for wealth, families that emphasize education will do better.

I know. It's very frustrating. Most of them don't have checking accounts, let alone credit cards. And yet all that's standing between their kids and success is like $1,000 or so with an almost limitless return on investment.

 

Yeah but it just doesn't happen.

I'd be interested to see someone's do-good instinct point in that direction too. There are a lot of people giving $1,000 or $2,500 college scholarships, which are nice but still leave a big hole in funding. But echoing Dick's point, that $1,000 or $2,500 as a scholarship to a test prep class would probably -- in fact I would say almost definitely -- help the student shave tens of thousands of dollars off the cost of college.

Would be an interesting idea for a foundation.

 

1. Write your name. Initials will do.
2. Construct a sentence. Four words will do.
3. If I give you an SAT test and you give it back, how many SAT tests do you have in your possession?

THAT COMPLETES THE SAT. GOOD LUCK IN COLLEGE!

 

You got it wrong:

1. Give test to your parents.

 

Dick, aren't the kids most worthy of investment -- the is, the kids where an investment will reap returns -- the ones with involved parents?

Yet, if we make aid/investment/resources dependent on the parents involvement, I'm told we are being unfair to the other kids.

How do we fix that? We waste valuable, and limited, resources when we try to treat everybody fairly, and we get poor results.

 

The kids with involved parents succeed because someone helps them navigate the admissions process.

There are also kids with involved parents whose involved parents don't know a thing about the admissions process - like mine.

I'm not sure what you're arguing.

 

In most cases the parents of the struggling kids have no earthly idea what college is about, how to get their kids in or how much it truly costs and what the payment options are. The sticker price alone scares many of them away. To say "here are the resources for all who know about them and can pay" is to perpetuate the cycle.

 

I'm not arguing anything.

I'm seriously trying to figure out how you help the most kids, without wasting a ton of money.

 

Yeah, but they also don't understand saving, or how compound interest works.

A lack of a financial education/understanding hits them in a number of ways. And, if they don't get it, I'm just not sure how repackaging it is going to make it any more accessible.

 

Some sort of application process, I'd think, if you were starting a foundation predicated on this concept. Look at grades, personal essays, and teachers recommendations. Almost like a college app.

 

Yeah A foundation can have any criteria it chooses. The Robin Hood Foundation, for instance, tries to hold their grantees accountable, and judges the effectiveness of their giving.

But, government spending will still trump all. And, we don't spend it wisely. Part of why it isn't spent wisely is because we're trying to be fair. But, that ensures waste.

 

We should never try to help poor kids.