Students need more than an SAT adversity score, they need a boost in wealth

Standardized tests that are used for the purposes of college admissions don't predict college success very well. Scores on the widely used SAT and ACT tests only predict adequately for grades earned in a student's first year in college. And those scores are worse predictors for black and brown students. For what it's worth, scores from the SAT and ACT tests are good proxies for the amount of wealth students are born into: income tracks with test performance. The more money a student's parents make, the more likely he or she will have a higher score. It follows, then, that the less money you make, the more likely you'll be denied a chance at a selective institution. And unfortunately, the divide between the rich and the poor is widening. The achievement gap between those who make less than $80,000 and those who make more than that amount has increased from 2012 to 2016, according to a 2016 ACT report.