Want money for taking the SAT?

I always wondered if college made me smarter.  I know that summer right before college sure didn’t, but Baylor thinks otherwise.  Does the SAT even measure how smart you are?  Baylor University is paying students to retake the SAT.  Great!  You didn’t get into Baylor (probably for the best) so here’s your second chance and you get a prize at the same time!  Sike.  This offer only applies to admitted students.  Students already admitted to Baylor get 300 dollars in bookstore credit just for retaking the SAT.  If you improve by 50 points, you get $1000 a year via a merit award.  That’s pretty nice of Baylor seeing as their median accepted SAT score range is 1140 to 1320 which is still towards the apex of the SAT score curve.  Utilizing my commanding knowledge of statistics from a semester of kindergarten psychology statistics, that means that its easier to get those points in the 1140 – 1320 range than say the more competitive range of Williams College (1320 - 1520).  Still, why would a school basically give away monies? To boost their rankings.  Better rankings equals happier alums which means more monies for the school.  Wouldn’t a better measure, one more true and useful, involve having students take the test after their first year at the school?  Or hey, if you’re really worried about more students getting merit scholarships, why not include artistic ability, critical thinking, original thought not just an ability to get better with your calculator? My vote - you just bumped your score by 50 points or more?  Go to a better school.

Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/education/15baylor.html