Is It the Music or Is It Selection Bias? A Nationwide Analysis of Music and Non-Music Students’ SAT Scores

What is it about?

We compare the SAT scores of music and non-music students, controlling for various preexisting differences between those students who do and don't take music.

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Why is it important?

We find that the often-touted advantage for music students on the SAT disappears once you take into account that music students tend to come from wealthier families and tend to have higher academic achievement at the outset of high school.