The SAT has long been used to assess students' readiness for college and to create competitiveness in college admissions. However, it has become a topic of controversy as stakeholders and researchers question its necessity, value, and validity especially where it concerns equitable access to post-secondary opportunities for underrepresented students. Many universities have moved to test optional policies; however, many Ivy League schools returned to mandatory testing policies recently claiming the SAT is a better predictor of college success than the High School Grade Point Average (HSGPA). The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the influence of student demographics, confounding factors, and test preparation efforts on the SAT college-readiness benchmarks of the 11th grade students in Denver Public Schools who participated in the April 2023 free, in-school SAT test. The findings from this study confirm past research regarding the scoring gap between races/ethnicities and further suggest the importance of test preparation in meeting the benchmarks; the intersectionality of confounding factors presents a challenge to schools as superior initiatives are necessary to mitigate these issues and support student success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]