It says something about the evidence-free, ideology-heavy mentality in America’s colleges and universities that so many institutions ditched a tool for recognizing excellence in disadvantaged students because they believed they could persuade everyone else that the test was unfair, contrary to what the actual evidence said. (How many crusaders against the SAT had disappointing SAT scores themselves? How many academics’ mentality was or is, “I did worse than I wanted to on that test, therefore, it is an unfair and inaccurate test”?) ...

No one is arguing that college admissions should be based entirely on the SAT or any other standardized test. Every school examines a student’s academic record, most look at the student’s outside activities, and then sometimes the school reviews personal essays or conducts an interview session. But a standardized test is a valuable component because so many kids of every conceivable background and circumstance take the same test. There’s no room for teacher favoritism or subjective standards.