GOP Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy wants to add physical fitness testing to the SAT standardized test.
QUICK FACTS:
- Republican 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suggested this week adding a physical fitness component to the SAT test.
- “Now that the Supreme Court finally ended affirmative action, colleges will only further deprioritize SAT scores in favor of subjective factors because of large racial disparities in test results,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
- The presidential hopeful claimed that adding a physical section to the test would “drive excellence” of those applying to college and help the mental health crisis in the country.
- “There’s a simple way forward that will drive excellence and diversity of talent among incoming college classes: the College Board should add a physical fitness section to the SAT, instead of just math and reading sections,” Ramaswamy proposed. “This would also help address a growing mental health crisis in our country: physical fitness correlates directly with lower rates of depression, anxiety, and drug use.”
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE VIVEK RAMASWAMY ON INCLUDING A PHYSICAL COMPONENT TO THE SAT:
“This is a pro-merit solution that rewards diverse talents: it’s a fact that those who perform well on math & reading tests tend to perform more poorly on the 1-mile run, and vice versa,” Ramaswamy said.
BACKGROUND:
- Last week, Ramaswamy prepped for the GOP presidential primary debate by playing three hours of tennis.
- The presidential hopeful posted a video to X shirtless, jesting, “Three hours of solid debate prep this morning.”
- A July 2023 poll revealed Ramaswamy tied for second place in the presidential primary poll along with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
- The Kaplan Strategies survey released at the time found that “both candidates claimed the support of 12 percent of likely GOP voters, coming second to President Donald Trump, who maintains a dominant 48 percent lead.”
- “Ramaswamy outperformed six other hopefuls by more than double, marking a significant surprise in this poll,” Doug Kaplan, founder of Kaplan Strategies, said of the candidate.
