Asperger's and standardized tests (SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE, etc)
My performance on a predictive standardized test vastly underrated my possession of the skills it is supposed to test for. I have been denied even a dime of scholarship money because of this and now I may not go to law school. Has anyone else run into this problem? It doesn't seem right to me. I never took the SAT so I can't compare my college GPA with whatever that score would have been but I know that my mind is anything but standard so I am almost certain I would not have done well. Imagine if there was no way to circumvent the SAT and that kept me out of college. That would be horrible.
Well, maybe I could have studied harder and some people do. But I spent a lot of time prepping, many weeks in advance. I got a much higher score on my later timed practice exams than I got on the real deal. Things went wrong during the exam. The rules are ironically illogical and totalitarian so I couldn't use the restroom without giving up time during any given section of the test. During one section I had to evacuate liquids more than I ever have before in my life. That was a bit distracting. On another section, I misbubbled answers and had to spend valuable time fixing that. The whole thing is stupid.
But the most important reality is that the test did not accurately measure the skills it seeks to test for. I'm not just asserting this; a good portion of my college coursework proves it.
Retake the LSAT in a month. For the MCAT for medical school I know some people who did poorly on their first live test but better on a later one the same spring/summer. I did great when I took the MCAT (and I have Asperger's) but I understand that testing situations can be different each time. You might have to travel to a different city to find an available testing center, and you will have to pay for the test again, but that is worth getting into law school, especially a tier 1 school like my brother.
Or maybe tests are not real world situations & no one bothers pointing out that a lot of people dump the information after they finish the test & in the real world the information is not in front of you. You are also assuming the information in front of you & what you been taught, is up to date information or accurate.
I wonder how many people would suck at a real live test. Lucky they let you re-take them now, well this country anyway. Don't know if other country’s have let you retake all time.
EDIT:- I like Apprenticeships better. Only problem is, is getting one.
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INTJ, Type5 Observer, Ecologists,
?When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.?
Last edited by TechnoDog on 17 Apr 2012, 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
I know re-taking is the best option but I don't want to play the game. It's just not right. Why in the world is a test where I fill out bubbles for less than three hours so damn important? They should care very little about the LSAT and more about how well I would do in law school. They should care whether I have the skills the LSAT tests for, not whether I got a high LSAT score. It's just so stupid. Why even go to college? GPA matters so little why not just cut it out entirely?
I know re-taking is the best option but I don't want to play the game. It's just not right. Why in the world is a test where I fill out bubbles for less than three hours so damn important? They should care very little about the LSAT and more about how well I would do in law school. They should care whether I have the skills the LSAT tests for, not whether I got a high LSAT score. It's just so stupid. Why even go to college? GPA matters so little why not just cut it out entirely?
Well if its anything like this country. Because somewhere down the line someone thought Tests, instead of Practical Skills. Apprenticeships are making a come back, but not fast enough. Do you guys use Apprenticeships or Internship. Anyway they think they can train people up & replace natural skills, over been social skilled or maybe you don't want those people been around. Because you can't control them, unless you try they blind spots.
_________________
INTJ, Type5 Observer, Ecologists,
?When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.?
My understanding of the business world is that it is just games and jumping through hoops, and playing up to other people's rules. You want to be a lawyer take their silly test. If you think it is better in law school, guess again. You will have to learn all sorts of useless information that will not matter to you as a lawyer (you will also learn really important stuff).
In medical school (which I left because I do not relate well to patients - do not greet a patient with a smile as you tell them that they are likely to get esophageal cancer, smiling because you knew the answer, not because you were happy they would probably have cancer soon). Anyway, in med school we had classes that had nothing about how to be doctors and had information that we would not be expected to use ever. But if you want to be a doctor, you jump through the hoops given to you. Be glad that lawyers only have the Bar exam. The Medical Board exams are given in three parts over 4-5 years, with the first 2 sets of tests taking the greater part of 3 days (the second part has two parts). But you do it to get the degree and certification to do what you want to do. Or you do not want to do it and leave and go do something else.
Standardized tests are dumb, if you ask me. It doesn't show what I know. It just shows my NVLD deficits. Did my SAT math score predict how well I did in college? No. And as for "not studying enough," when you have a learning disorder, there is no such thing. I could study geometry and trig for two minutes or 20 hours. I still won't understand it past pure memorization. When you have a learning disorder, you don't have an intuitive understanding. Show me a new problem I've never seen before, and I'm lost. But again, does this mean that I'm not a good scientist? Of course not. I'm very good at statistics, but does the GRE test me on that? Nope. It tests me on the same nonsense I had to be tested on with the SAT. There is no specialized GRE for neuroscience, so what does the GRE say about my talents and abilities? Not much.
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Helinger: Now, what do you see, John?
Nash: Recognition...
Helinger: Well, try seeing accomplishment!
Nash: Is there a difference?
What I can say is that I do good at standardized tests as long as I can prepare for them for long enough - I need to know precisely what is expected. If there is no tailored preparation, I most likely fail (unless they are purely IQ-type).
The worst I did was a social-skills test, which I didn't pass because I scored low on relationship building and goal orientation. I was angry as hell, because I have proven to be very good at teamwork and that kind of stuff in school and work.
Tests are there because there are way too many applicants to screen. It's unfair, but there is not much one can do I guess.
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At age 24, 4 months and 10 days I was officially told: "Congratulations! You are an Aspie".
Now I write about it --> http://happilyclueless.me
Um, I scored in the 97th percentile on the ACT without studying my junior year of high school. My IQ was high enough to get into Mensa.
However, that just means I test well and I can think very logically. It wasn't until college I realized those test scores meant nothing if I wasn't willing and able to work my butt off to make the most of whatever gifts I may have.
I'm 30 and I'm still working on that one!
I test well. I got an almost perfect score on the verbal SAT and a very good score on the math section. I got a perfect score in one ACT section and almost perfect scores in the others.
I dropped out of college after 2 years and I should've left much earlier.
My scores on standardized tests have always been extremely high and I always finish extremely early, but that doesn't really mean anything in real life.
I recently found an apprenticeship in a field that's a special interest of mine and that has been a wonderful, wonderful thing!! ! College was a nightmare...
I found studying for tests really hard, because I couldn't stay focused, and I especially found it hard to take in things I wasn't interested in. I don't know how the other kids managed to pass their exams, I thought NTs all rather be socialising than studying?
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Female
You can't win if you don't play the game. Life is not fair. Many, many NTs would agree that standardized testing is unfair. But if you want to be successful in life... if you want to make something of yourself... you'll have to play their game. At least for now. Once you become a lawyer, then you might be able to change some things.
Standardized tests aren't invalid because you didn't do well on them. I know myself that it's awful that others can do so much better on them, no matter how much I try. I just had to realize that others are better equipped for the kinds of tasks that such tests examine.
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