Women’s Enews reported yesterday that the new version of the SAT (it has higher level math, more writing, and no analogies) could close the previous gender gap in the test.

According to the article, the average SAT score for high school seniors last year was 1049 for males, 1005 for females out of a possible 1600.

Viji Sathy, a research scientist at the College Board, argues that because the revised test has a new writing section “a subject in which on other standardized tests females are known to outperform males—female scores might benefit.” Am I supposed to be super-excited over something women “might benefit” from?

I’m not sure how I feel about this whole thing. I used to teach SAT classes for The Princeton Review, and if I learned anything it was that a standardized test—writing section or not—is not a good indicator of how smart you are or how you’ll do in college. Don’t get me wrong, I think including writing is a necessary thing; there are way too many people who can’t even put a frigging sentence together. But to imply that somehow all the problems with the test will disappear with some revamping of structure is a little short-sighted. Cause besides the gender gap, let’s not forget about the race and class issues that surround the SAT. (I mean, come on—taking a prep course will run you at least $1000. How many people can afford that shit?)

Who thought that at 26 I’d still be thinking of that goddamn test!