The SAT won’t do what is really needed to prepare more students for college
Regarding “The University of California should not bring back the SAT for student admissions” (Open Forum, SFChronicle.com, June 10): With the elimination of standardized test scores for University of California applicants, getting into UC Berkeley became attainable for students like me, who came from marginalized backgrounds and lacked access to expensive test prep but had the ability and drive to succeed.
If students are arriving at college underprepared, the solution isn’t to reinstate tests that perpetuate inequality more than potential; our public schools should be fully funded so students receive strong academic support long before they reach college.
Standardized tests measure the effects of systemic underinvestment in public schools, but don’t actually fix it. Without meaningful investment in kindergarten through 12th-grade education, like Proposition 13 reform, bringing back the SAT or ACT will only recreate the barriers UC worked to dismantle.
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By Jules Pizano | San Francisco Chronicle | June 15, 2026
