To Whom it May Concern;

 I am writing this letter in order to plead you to eliminate the SAT as one of Pitzer College’s entrance requirements. I strongly believe that the SAT acts as a barrier to individuals of lower socioeconomic class, who may obtain lower SAT scores.  I do not believe that SAT scores help to predict a student’s success in College.

 I am a former student of a Boston Public School.  I took the SAT exam, and got a low score of 840. I was shocked after receiving the low score, because, the College Board predicts that students who have a strong academic record, will obtain a high score on the SAT.  All throughout my high school, I maintained a great academic standing. My senior year I was a member of the National Honors Society, and graduated in the top five of my class.  My high school education did not help to prepare me for this exam. Many of my high school peers who were also in National Honors Society, did not do well on the SATs. I then decided to take an SAT course, and was lucky to receive a scholarship that would help me pay for the course.

 My first semester at Pitzer College, was very difficult for me. I was the only one out of all my peers who did terribly on the SATs.  I thought I was not prepared, and did not deserve to attend Pitzer College. I feared that my high school failed in preparing me for college.  Fortunately, all this changed in the second semester, after I became more motivated to learn. I took classes that would interest me, and not classes that I thought I needed to take.  My scores increased drastically. After my second semester, I chose not to give up and to work hard. Now I am in my third year at Pitzer College, and I no longer feel inadequate.

At Pitzer College I learned of the many inequalities in our schooling, and in society as a whole.  Students who are placed in lower tracks, who wish to go to college, end up not obtaining the proper education to prepare them for college.  Minority students are usually placed in these lower tracks. They are unable to afford the higher tracks, because of their financial situation. They work hard in school, hoping to get to college. Then when they take the SATs, some tend to perform lower just like I did.

Pitzer College has taught me to care about all others who are not as privileged as I am. It has taught me to have social and environmental responsibility, and to act upon the social and environmental injustices. As long Pitzer College sells itself as one of the schools where students are taught to be socially responsible, Pitzer College has to lead that example, and stop ignoring the social injustices and inequalities that our school can help ameliorate.
 

[An Anonymous Pitzer Student]