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SAT And Learning Disabilities

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softwareNerd

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NBC News just did a story of kids getting psychologists to certify them as "learning disabled" so that they can get more time on the SAT test. According to the story, the number of such learning disabled kids taking the SAT is very high in some of the more affluent suburbs. The SAT information indicates that such scores

are "flagged" with the label "Special."
Does anyone know to what extent colleges discount scores that are flagged in this way?
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2400 nowadays - you've got to do a writing section. I wonder how they manage that? They're probably given "breaks" in the evaluation. So in other words if I get an 11/12 on the essay (which I did) then some rich kid who can pull strings and write a 7 or an 8 can get treated the same as mine boosting it to an 11? I hate College Board - especially with that whole mis-scored SAT debacle and my own personal experiences with their ineptitude. They need more competition...

Edited by Myself
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Actually, I'd be willing to bet that the college can't discount the learning disability because of the ADA. In anything, they'd be more willing to curve in favor of someone with a learning disability. This is something that really bugs me. As I mentioned before, I'm dyslexic.

I took the SAT during the Reagan administration and managed to get somewhere slightly north of 1300. I wasn't given any extra time since a) I didn't understand some of my problems with written language and speech patterns at the time b)wouldn't have bothered to do that since I really want to test myself on a heads up basis with everyone else. For all its problems, the SAT and ACT both act as a guideline for them to judge people. While it may not be a perfect or 100% accurate measure of an individuals abilites, it is at least something. Otherwise, college admittance boards would have nothing to judge people by. And that is a slippery slope into the decline of education.

I think this is something akin to someone who isn't a HAMWASP ((heterosexual able bodied white Anglo-Saxon protestant (otherwise known as "the man")) arguing against affirmative action. It isn't really needed. In the real world, one of my clients isn't going to care that I have trouble with words when I write or my speech pattern sometimes is likened to President Bush. All they care about is do I get my job done. This is another case of big brother having been killed off by big mother.

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This is the kind of thing that really gets to me. I am a dyslexic and at times in high school I need need some accomidation. But people who have ability and dont use but instead look for an easy way out (AKA incorrectly lableling themselves learning disabled) really need to be taken off the planet. There are some kids out there who actually need more time on the test and people like this make it really hard for them to be taken seriously.

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