The SAT is a deeply imperfect test. It claims to test neither IQ nor material taught in school, rendering results highly correlative with income as wealthier students have access to tutors teaching them the oddly sophomoric yet esoteric skills tested on the exam. The best thing to be said about the exam is that it at least attempts to create an objective measure of merit.

The SAT subject tests are a different story. Whereas a college math department learns little from a student’s math ability based on the math section of the general SAT, which only tests Algebra I, middle school geometry, and a sliver of Algebra II, the Level 2 subject test also evaluates precalculus. Furthermore, the College Board has tests for a range of subjects not covered at all by the original SAT, such as physics, world history, and foreign languages.