I think it provides a degree of equity. Because almost everyone takes the SAT and many take AP tests, everyone is judged on the same scale. It’s unfortunate if you’re not fond of the format, but it puts all the test takers in the same situation. – Thurston Smalley ’11 College Board seems to be the wise elder that colleges trust. To have another organization administer testing would be blasphemous. It would take time for them to gain the legitamcy and respect that the College Board holds. – Demetrius Lalanne ’11 The system works. Imagine trying to get into college without College Board, where there are dozens of companies that all have the functions of College Board, but are much smaller in scale. Suppose there were seven or ten college-entrance exams to choose from instead of two. Suppose that you had to take separate tests for each college you applied to. It’s for sure that there would be harder choices to make if not for College Board. So even though College Board is monopolizing the market, with Big Boss Tweed collecting all the cash pouring in, people entrust College Board because the system works for both students and colleges. – Bryan Ha ’12 Standardized testing has to be totally uniform in order to be, well, standardized. So while competition is great in many cases, this is one instance where there’s no valid way around a monopoly, as far as I can tell. – Jane Thomas ’10
