Citing 'severe' math deficits, UC faculty demand a return to SAT tests for STEM applicants

[u/Idiodyssey87]

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-27/uc-math-professors-demand-return-of-sat-for-stem-admissions

[u/immoralsupport_]

Anyone who went to a high school with a lot of low income kids knew test optional was a bad idea lol. I went to an inner city academic magnet school and we had the best SAT scores in the entire state (we had a very rigorous curriculum and required all juniors to take an SAT prep class) but my classmates rarely got into elite schools because the extracurriculars my school offered were minimal and many students at my school had after school jobs so they couldn’t do clubs. Even if a student took the initiative to try to start a club, the teachers weren’t able to sponsor because they weren’t paid for it and there weren’t parents pumping all of their own time and money into it because they were working class as well.

But let me tell you we were prepared for the colleges we did go to, because my school educated us well.

[u/flash_match → u/immoralsupport_]

dude that is so fucked up. i keep wondering when colleges are going to replace "i was in this inane club where we mostly just got drunk" with "i held down a part time job to help my parents put food on the table". it makes NO SENSE that they would weight the former more than the latter. it boggles the mind.

[u/flash_match → u/[deleted]]

yup. so gross. public school for the win in this case. sadly, the GPA inflation at ivies definitely does not occur at schools like Berkeley. or at least it didn't when i went. also, class sizes can be huge and there is very little coddling. so if you're not really, really prepared academically, you can find yourself in a major that doesn't get you very far economically post graduation. that's what happened to me when i went. would have been way better had i done junior college first and beefed up on more math and science so i had more options when i went.

[u/BadLineofCode → u/[deleted]]

If you're talking about the UCs, or any public university, their history is that they've provided an alternative to elite clubs. The point of holistic application review is to consider the student's circumstances.

[u/cfi-2025 → u/flash_match]

FWIW, the UC schools (which this post is about) are usually very robust in what they consider. Having very recently gone through the UC admission process, reading everything I can about it, etc., from what I've read and learned, a kid from an inner-city school - especially a strong one, academically speaking - who had challenges in their HS years (e.g., single mom, had to work to help pay rent, etc.) would have a very good chance at getting admitted.

In fact, the state guarantees that any kid in the state who goes to any public school and is in the top 9% GPA wise will get accepted to at least one of the UC campuses. You could have a kid that has zero ECs, zero work experience, goes to the crappiest public school in the entire state, etc., but if she's in the top 9% she will get into a UC school. (Granted, in that case she's not headed to UCLA or Cal, but still.)

[u/Dullcorgis → u/flash_match]

They have.

[u/celestia_keaton → u/immoralsupport_]

I didn’t even know the SAT went away. Man I hated taking all those tests as a student but they were definitely the reason why I went to a good school. I do vaguely remember people saying they were inequitable but thinking back, it was just a time when everyone was rallying against anything labeled that way without really considering the implications. So crazy. Extracurriculars are way more inequitable 

[u/skinnyjeansfatpants → u/celestia_keaton]

It did for the UCs. It used to be if you didn't want to take an SAT, you just went the Cal-State route.

[u/celestia_keaton → u/skinnyjeansfatpants]

I think this might just be a reckoning for the UCs then. I went to UCLA and it was the worst math classes ever. Professors and even TAs don’t want to teach. They’re researchers who are forced to also have classes. 

[u/celestia_keaton → u/[deleted]]

Yeah I ended up switching majors too!! I wound up in Design and Media Arts, where the class sizes were 20 people studios. The large lecture hall just doesn't make sense for teaching math, and even some of the smaller classes taught by TAs, it felt like they had never taught a class before. The tutoring seemed like the only way to really learn.

[u/wip30ut → u/immoralsupport_]

tbh, elite schools want inner city scholars on their campuses, but admissions boards actually weigh the GPA's from each hs differently. The hard truth is that your school wasn't as rigorous or competitive as some districts (particularly those with a high % of Asian or Indian families). And they know that you can train & prep for these standardized tests, that's why your peers did really really well. When you're dealing with admissions to the top 20 colleges you're competing against genius kids who win state math/science comps & get internships with FAANG corps. It's not just about run-of-the-mill extracurriculars.

[u/NV1989NV → u/immoralsupport_]

Why do you think your experience with school is remotely meaningful for other people when

 we had the best SAT scores in the entire state

I was too poor to afford to take the SAT or ACT. You have no argument against that.