Is it even secretly anymore? It just seems outright discrimination, at this point, as far as admissions is concerned.
> The score would not be reported to the student, only to college officials.
They give you a standardized test, but you can't even find out how well you did.
You don't get your "adversity score" which is not based on how well you did, but only on where you live and what high school you attend.
Maybe we should also have a hidden citizen score, to be used behind the scenes in the courts of law?
Your SAT score is just about the only bit of the admission process you have access to. You don't get the admissions officers' opinions on your essay, what they thought of your extracurriculars, how they perceive the reputation of your high school, what their alumni interviewers said, etc.
(Chances are you can make a pretty good guess at what the adversity score is going to be, too.)