College Board Must Add Students' "Adversity Scores" to Socio-Economic Factors for College Admission

The College Board, which oversees the standardized SAT exam used by most US colleges during the intake process, plans to introduce an "adversity score" for each student who passes the test, the the Wall Street newspaper reports. The new number will be calculated based on 15 factors ranging from local poverty levels and crime rates to the ethnicity of the student. This score will not be displayed to students, but will be included in the results sent by SAT examiners to schools that a student applies for. The new scoring system, which was put on trial with 50 colleges last year, has been criticized by some groups who feel that it will only widen the gap between races and classes in college admissions. Others think it will help level the playing field between the candidates. "There are a number of incredible students who may have gotten less [on the SAT] but have accomplished more, "said David Coleman, Executive Director of the College Board, to Newspaper. "We can not sit back and ignore the wealth disparities reflected in the SAT."