Written by: Helen Donohoe
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***Helen Donohoe, M.S.Ed., is a teacher of English and French in the Hamilton/Burlington area. She holds practice SAT sessions on Saturdays on an informal, drop-in basis at Cedar Springs Racquet Club where she is a member, long-time tennis hacker and aficionado.
In this section of the website we will be publishing short paragraphs on various aspects of SAT. Please leave your questions/comments here, and Helen will be happy to respond to any specific concerns from students/parents***
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What is the purpose of the SAT?
SAT exists because it is the only comprehensive standardized test that US colleges and universities can use to determine how applicants compare in academics. Suppose a tennis coach is looking for a left-handed doubles player to fill a gap on the roster and has three good applicants, one from the USA, one from Russia and one from Canada. Admission departments and coaches have no way to compare the school marks of the three applicants, because each comes from a different part of the world and has gone through a different school system. It would be like comparing apples to oranges to bananas! However as every SAT is the same, no matter where in the world it is written, the marks can be compared.