The SAT Reasoning Test is not without its critics in the United States. They claim that it is biased towards males and whites (if true, this is ironic, as one of the original touted advantages of the SAT was that it would give immigrant children an equal chance with traditional elites. Of course early in the last century immigrant children did not get through eighth grade). Opponents of the SAT propose different solutions, including the offering of different SAT tests targeted at different demographic groups. Furthermore, many of the multiple-choice questions and word analogies have been found to be ambiguous, and some math scores have had to be changed because of errors in scoring.

Approximately 400 colleges and universities in the United States, including Bowdoin College, Bates College, and Mount Holyoke College [1], have made the SAT Reasoning Test optional and have begun to pay more attention to other measures of student ability in their undergraduate admissions decisions. The University of California system has started to weigh SAT IIs more heavily instead. Other colleges have encouraged the use of the alternate ACT exam. Overall SAT averages of admitted students are still the subject of self-promotion by colleges and universities, however. Unlike the SAT Reasoning Test, the SAT Subject Tests have received less controversy, partly because they are more content-oriented.

In a 2001 speech to the American Council of Education, Richard C. Atkinson, president of the University of California, urged dropping the SAT Reasoning Test as a college admissions requirement:

In response to these various criticisms, the College Entrance Examination Board announced the restructuring of the SAT, to take effect in March 2005

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