The History of the SAT

The SAT is a common standardized test that millions of students take every year, but do people know its origins?

The first SAT test was written in 1920 by Carl Brigham, a eugenicist. Eugenics believes that some races have traits that are superior to others.

At the time, Brigham believed the test would reinforce the belief that Jews, Mediterraneans, and African Americans were less intelligent than whites. He believed his test could improve the human race through controlled breeding of favorable characteristics. 

Given its disreputable origins, how did the SAT become the test for college applicants?

In 1933, James Conant, the newly appointed president of Harvard, committed himself to diversifying his school’s student body. In order to find a few worthy students to whom he would award full scholarship, he searched for a test to assess a student’s capabilities.

His secretary found Brigham’s test, and they met. Conant liked the test so much that he required all Harvard applicants to take it.

Back then, every college followed what Harvard did, so all schools started using the SAT.

There you have it: how a seemingly random test became incredibly ubiquitous.