Science and Standardized Testing- Blog 5

For this blog post, I wanted to research what students think of the SAT, which along with the ACT, is a standardized test for college admission.  I found two articles (found here and here), that give some student opinions about the test.  Surprisingly, they acknowledge that more subjects need to be included and that the test mainly quizzes students on their test taking skills and their ability to learn.
In the first article, one student noted that the SAT does not test subjects that students may go on to study in college.  Music, art, business, marketing, etc.  are not on the SAT.  Should there be more specific subjects or have students test in a subject that they are planning on majoring in in college?  Another student saw the tests unable to be standard.  Districts and states have different curricula so it is impossible to streamline everything.
I found in the second article an interview with college students looking back on their experiences with the SAT in high school.  One student said that it was simple to only prepare for the exam the night before.  However he claimed that college tests are much more difficult and require a lot of study time, therefore it is not a good predictor or indicator of success in college.  Students say that the SAT does resembles graduate school exams, but not their tests that they take in college. 
From my research, these students and I share the same opinion.  How can these standardized actually be standardized? Some topics might be covered in one school in third grade, and in another school at fourth grade.  With such a variance in standards and curricula in classrooms across the country, how can students be expected to be at the same level?  I also think that while it is difficult to create a test that covers every classroom subject, including any "specials" like music, art, physical education, etc., I do think that the subjects need to be expanded.  The student had a good point to say that what a student is tested on in the ACT or the SAT is not necessarily what they will study in college, so the exam is then not a good indicator of their college performance.  It would also be ideal for the SAT or ACT to mimic college tests.  From what I remember from high school, the SAT did not have an essay portion and the ACT's essay section was optional.  From my experience, the majority of my colleges classes have has short answer or essay tests, not multiple choice.  While it is difficult to condense years of material into one standardized exam, while college tests cover weeks of material, they could be more similar through having similar formats.
Works Cited:
http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20101014/TEEN/101019931/1062?p=3&tc=pg
http://www.saratogafalcon.org/content/college-students-reflect-back-sat