01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005

IT PROPELS both kids and adults into a panic. It is feared and despised. No, I'm not referring to tidal waves or taxes. I'm talking about the SAT. If the SAT were an individual, he would be run out of town by mobs carrying torches and pitchforks.

For decades, the SAT has been a focal point in the college-admission process. It looms over students. They fear it as freshmen, dread it as sophomores, and finally face it as quivering juniors and seniors.

Parents seek out the best tutors for their children. Some of them charge hundreds of dollars an hour. The intensity surrounding this test is mounting with the appearance of the "new" SAT this spring. Rather than a perfect score being a 1600, it will jump to a 2400, and include three sections, rather than two.

I find myself swimming against an overpowering current. I urge families to take a rational approach; prepare for the SAT, but understand that it is not the centerpiece of their college application.

My message is a difficult one for families to accept, many of whom are sure I underestimate the power of this test.

The debate surrounding these scores continues to rage. Of course, the College Board (the company that produces the SAT) wants us to believe that the score is an essential and accurate predictor of an applicant's academic potential.

We have also been indoctrinated by the $250 million test-prep industry that students can be "coached" and their scores improved. However, there are experts and organizations such as FairTest.Org that argue that the SAT and ACT (another national standardized test) are poor predictors of academic success.

An interesting study recently emerged from Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine. Bates is one of nearly 400 colleges and universities (according to FairTest) that no longer require standardized tests for admission. At these schools, applicants have the option of submitting their SATs.

Admission officers have long assumed that applicants who choose not to submit their scores have lower scores than those who do. This proved true. In fact, there was a considerable difference -- 160 points -- between the two groups. So far, no surprises, right?

So, now for the interesting part. The study showed no difference in academic performance or graduation rates between students who submitted their scores and those who did not. It also found that there was little difference among SAT submitters and non-submitters and their chosen career paths, with the exception of fields that require additional standardized testing, such as graduate programs in medicine, law and business.

So, what does this all mean? It clearly strengthens the argument that the SAT and ACT are not accurate predictors of either intelligence or of potential for success in college and afterwards. High-school grades, course choices and class rank are far more precise indicators.

Now, let's not ignore the reality that SATs still play an important role in the college-decision-making process. But don't let them eclipse or guide your goals. High SATs do not guarantee admission to Brown University and a smooth and lucrative career, just like low SATs do not banish you to working in a box factory.

Many colleges take a more holistic approach, focusing on a variety of factors when considering applications. I emphasize the importance of course choices and grades, and I urge students to develop and explore extracurricular interests, as well as close relationships with their teachers and counselor. But I worry that small voices like mine and FairTest's are thoroughly muted by the mammoth shadows cast by the College Board and the test-prep industry.

Students want to believe me. They want to believe that the SAT doesn't define who they are and how they will be evaluated. But for them, the reality is what they see among their peers. They watch classmates (who can afford it) spending hundreds of dollars for test-prep assistance. They see their schools emphasize its importance and teachers teaching to the test. And they hear their parents anxiously pushing them to prep, prep, prep.

It's time to encourage colleges to re-evaluate the SAT as a requirement. At the very least, they should provide students with the option of submitting it, just like Bates College, Bowdoin College and Connecticut College.

Even better, drop it as a requirement altogether. I'm realistic. I'm not hopeful that the SAT will be eliminated anytime soon. I can't battle the College Board and the multimillion-dollar test-prep industry. But I can continue to tell the truth about these tests, and to try to boost the egos of good kids devastated by scores that ultimately mean little.

William H. Caskey is a college-admission consultant and a former Brown University admissions officer.