Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has tried to do a lot of different things to stand out from the field as he attempts to prove he’s a better choice than Donald Trump and others.
The biotech entrepreneur has made headlines with some of his “anti-woke” ideas and brash pushback against his fellow politicians.
The 38-year-old proposed another bold idea this week regarding how SAT scores are determined. Along with testing math and English skills, he’d like to see the SAT have a physical fitness component added.
“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,” said Ramaswamy on X, formerly known as Twitter. “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. This could mirror the “Presidential Fitness Test” – consisting of a 1-mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups, shuttle run, etc. – regularly administered across American high schools until the Obama White House [disbanded] it.
“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. 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. This is not formally part of my Presidential platform but it’s a serious proposal to address multiple cultural & health challenges with a single actionable step: most solutions shouldn’t come top-down from government.”
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. There’s a simple way forward that will drive excellence and diversity of talent…
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 28, 2023
It’s hard to imagine how something like this could work, especially when you consider how it could impact physically impaired or disabled students and those with underlying health concerns. But that’s never stopped Republicans from not caring before.
The proposal certainly garnered some interesting reactions.
“those who perform well on math & reading tests tend to perform more poorly on the 1-mile run”
This guy has never met a high school cross country team… https://t.co/qtIVowvx6M
— Suzy (@soooozyq) August 30, 2023
Something that really bothers me about this idiot is that he keeps saying stuff like “America is divided and I want to unite the country” and then comes on Twitter and says “fat people shouldn’t be allowed to go to college” https://t.co/VWUbYzExry
— Kenny Belvin (@kennylbelvin) August 28, 2023
This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever read. Is he aware that you can be both good at math AND able to run a decent mile time? https://t.co/DSuMo2U1gM
— Matt Rossow (@junior1385) August 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/AlexStanek/status/1696328239852011549
Ramaswamy's latest harebrained idea is to have the College Board administer a physical fitness test as part of the admissions process.
"If you can't run an 8-minute mile, I don't want you in my class!" https://t.co/shT0DByQi9
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) August 29, 2023
Wait until he hears about the ADA. https://t.co/5OALAVXBLX
— Kevin Baum (@kevinbaum013) August 28, 2023
