I Have Taught SAT Prep for 35 Years & Have Learned the Secret to Overcoming Test Bias for High School Students

The current trend in education is to bash college entrance exams.

The statistics do not lie; there is a significant disadvantage for women, ethnic groups, and income levels (up to 50+ points in certain groups).

But maybe we should look behind the statistics to find out why the tests are biased?

When you take an exam, the answer sheet knows nothing about your gender, ethnicity, or parents' income. It's unpopular to point out that students in the "unbiased" group sometimes do poorly, and students in the "biased" group do well.

Why did bias prevail or not in these cases?

The reason is that the SAT is biased toward indecision.

Students who have a hard time making timely decisions perform worse on SAT.

Students who can make decisions decisively and without regret often perform best. The SAT consists of 154 questions spread over 180 minutes. If you struggle with indecision, you will do poorly on this exam, regardless of your gender, race, or income level.

Success comes to those who are biased towards action, both on the SAT & in life.

To improve their scores, students must learn how to:

- control emotions

- banish the perfection mindset

- let go of bad decisions

Bias comes in many forms and affects different groups more than others. I do not deny that biases exist, but I deny that they cannot be overcome.

Being brilliant but slow is certain death for your SAT results.