Intelligencer

Only a Test

A random survey of 100 pedestrians in Washington Square on higher education, SAT scandals, and those pesky analogies.

Published Mar 19, 2006

Did you get into the college you wanted?
Yes . . . . . . 86
No . . . . . . 13
Not sure . . . . . . 1

Do you think it matters where you go?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
“Of course. That’s why I’m paying 40K a year.”
“It makes a difference in terms of the people you meet.”

Would your life have been better if you’d gone to another school?
Yes . . . . . . 24
No . . . . . . 67
Not sure . . . . . . 9
“I wouldn’t be living at home.” “I would have been less academically rigorous and more social.
I went to Harvard.” “I wouldn’t have to deal with the b.s. Parsons gives me.”

Do you remember your SAT score?
Average reported score of the 83 who did: 1229

Were you happy with your score?
Yes . . . . . . 65
No . . . . . . 33
Didn’t care . . . . . . 2
“My score was the lowest in my private high school.” “I didn’t care. Back then, I was anti-Establishment.” “I had a friend who killed himself because he didn’t get into any colleges he applied to.”

Did you do test prep for them?
Yes . . . . . . . . . . 45
No . . . . . . . . . . 55
“No, I didn’t know we were supposed to.” “Yes. I paid a lot for my tutor, $10,000.”

Do you think people who do well on the SAT are actually smarter than those who don’t?
Yes . . . . . . 17
No . . . . . . 81
Sometimes . . . . . . 2

Does part of the exam still haunt you?
“Apple is to orange as peacock is to giraffe. I could never get those.” “The whole math section.”

Because of a glitch, this year many students got much lower SAT scores than they should have. Would you sue? Yes . . . . . . 41
No . . . . . . 57
Maybe . . . . . . 2

If 8 - w = -2w - 8 + 5w, then w =
(A) 8 . . . . . . 11
(B) 4 . . . . . . 54
(C) 0 . . . . . . . . 19
(D) -4 . . . . . 12
(E) -8 . . . . . 2
I give up . . . . . 2

Contrary to what some believe, most snakes have skin that is dry and pleasant to the touch, not ______________ .
(A) seedy . . . 5
(B) unctuous . . . 44
(C) desiccated . . . 20
(D) burnished . . . 6
(E) variegated . . . 25

ANSWERS: (B) is correct for both questions.