Getting Into College : A Stressful Time Of A Senior 's Life

Anyone who has ever taken the ACT or the SAT knows how stressful and difficult the tests are. Students are forever judged because of the scores the receive by colleges and peers. The ACT/SAT are standardized tests that are meant to calculate what students have learned in previous years of high school. Colleges then use this score to determine whether a student will succeed in college. Specific problems with this process include the fact that high schoolers are extremely busy and may have other things on their minds, the tests require brutal test prep, the test can cause stress and anxiety, and the tests do not accurately gage a student’s college success. For these main reasons, students should not be required to take the ACT/SAT to get into college.

A lot of colleges and Universities believe the score of a student’s SAT and ACT will help them make better

One of the main reasons colleges use a student’s standardized test scores is to determine how ready they are for college and how they will perform in their freshman year (“Do Standardized Test” par 10). However, in reality these standardized tests do not properly predict a student’s first year college performance. Throughout the years, multiple studies have shown that a student’s GPA is a much more accurate representation of their future performance in college than their standardized test results. One of these studies for example, states that “The ACT regularly underestimates the abilities of females, who earn higher grades than males in college, despite lower ACT scores.” (“The ACT: Biased” par 10)

Einstein once said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Likewise, if a poor test-taker is judged by their SAT score, they could be forced to attend an inadequate institute of higher education. For decades, the SAT has been “the test” that makes or breaks a student's chances of getting into their top college. Generally, the privileged populace do well, but minorities and women do not come out as strong and are therefore limited to college choice. The SAT has proven to be an unsuitable, biased method for predicting success of students in college.

For students to get accepted into most institutes, they must pass the admissions requirements that school has placed. Most likely having a decent SAT/ACT score and a good standing GPA is required, along with recommendations and sometimes an essay. However, should colleges really rely on standardized test scores to determine a student’s success in college? One single test should not determine how well a student would do in college or determine whether they should get accepted into that college. Instead, they should remove the requirement for SAT/ACT scores and rely on the student’s high school grade point average. Students build their GPA within four years, and that can determine their effort, focuses, and diligence, as stated by Jada Bah, “SAT/ACT Scores Alone Should Not Predict College Success.” A four-hour test should override a four-year grade.

The ACT and SAT were created to accurately measure the knowledge of our children and make sure they are prepared for college, yet often times it seems to have the opposite effect. Due to the tests, some students are deciding not to go to college just to avoid paying so much money when they do not think they can do well in college courses. Even if students do decide to go to college, they may avoid taking classes with large tests due to test phobia developed from the ACT or SAT (Paul 42). Seeing such low scores in certain subjects can lower a student’s confidence and willingness to take those classes in college. By not taking certain classes, a student is limiting what major they can complete which will lowering their career options (Paul 42). We can’t let this happen to our students! We can’t let one stupid test destroy the careers and futures of hundreds of teenagers. The long term effects of the trauma created by the ACT and SAT are detrimental to today’s students.

In highschool, when it comes around being a junior year many juniors are stress because that's the time when they have to take the ACT or SAT test which at the end the score depends their future. Being a junior and taking the ACT or SAT and getting a splendorous score is the goal for many students but what happens if some students do try but they didn't get a good score as others. Those who got a great score would be able to go to all these prestigious colleges, but

Imagine a test capable of making or breaking a student's chances of getting into his or her dream college. Imagine a test score that can be easily influenced, but only through thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Now imagine that same test but biased towards certain crowds of students while also being incapable of accurately predicting their futures. Is this the test you want for colleges to use in order to distinguish students? This is the SAT—famous for the unnecessary pressure it presents to students as well as the unfair disadvantages it presents to many others. Since these SAT scores are extremely artificial, SAT tests are not an accurate predictor for future success.

The thought of new adventures I will encounter and the freedom I will gain in college makes me ecstatic. Your First Year of College: 25 Strategies and Tips to Help You Survive and Thrive Your Freshman Year and Beyond written by Randall S. Hansen, who is an entrepreneur who is focused on helping people with college success and health and wellness. “Get enough sleep, take your vitamins and eat right.” Getting enough sleep can improve your focus and agility. The author suggest that if you stay healthy, get enough sleep, and take your vitamins you should have a better chance of avoiding the “Freshman 15.” Without having your parents around to serve you a good balanced meal, one may be tempted to go for the cookies

If this is true and GPA and school activity involvement are more important, then why is the SAT even considered? Brandon Busteed, an executive director of Gallup Education, ran a study including 2,586 superintendents around his area. According to his results, “...Only six percent of superintendents strongly agree that SAT and ACT scores are the best predictors of college success” (Brandon Busteed).  This shows that even educators feel that the SAT lacks a true purpose. How can any college determine a student's study habits, work ethic, or community involvement through a number? Jennifer Finney Boylan, a professor at Colby College, states, “The only way to measure students’ potential is to look at the complex portrait of their lives; what their schools are like; how they’ve done in their courses; what they’ve chosen to study; what progress they’ve made over time; how they’ve reacted to adversity” (Hambrick & Chabris). Although other factors are not ignored, including involvement and high school GPA, there is still immense pressure to do well on the SATs. Busteed states, “We’re not just overinvesting in standardized testing, we’re actually testing standardization. That is to say, most standardized tests are designed to have students come up with the same answers. We’re teaching them how to be similar, not different” (2015). This shows the negative effects that the SAT has on

Low scores are equivalent to fewer opportunities, and high scores tend to open more doors. Tests like the SAT are not effective because they are unfair to people with certain disadvantaged backgrounds, overly emphasized in the admission process, and do

Have you ever thought about what college you want to go to after high school? In order to get into that college, you must be accepted. Colleges look for a numerous amount of criteria in order for you to get accepted, and one of those things colleges look for is your standardized test score. The standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent, or “standard”, way (edglossary.org). Seeing that you must get a high enough score on the test in order for your dream college to accept you, the tests are difficult, but are very worth it at the end. Colleges have been accepting students into their school with standardized test scores for more than 50 years, and with that being said, it has seemed to work pretty well (content.time.com). In the end, standardized test scores show that you deserve to go to that college, and is also a way of showing that you’ve worked hard for so long to accomplish something huge.

Supporters of the test may state it is a good base or “key” to use and gage a student when looking to gauge their academic skill level. Swing to the other side and it’s unsurprisingly easy to find the reasons to oppose the test. Reasons include that the test prevents some students from unlocking their full academic potential due to their lack of easily available resources. Lack of these resources could be due to financial situations or a person’s ethnic background. Studies show the SAT cannot predict a student’s performance in secondary school. These studies examine and exhibit to us (the viewer) that the SAT lacks in showing a student’s true qualities and work ethic. Segregating students based on a test prevents a student from possibly unlocking their full potential. Students judged by their SAT are not the only ones missing out on potential academic success, the future of America loses the chance to further educate the next generation of potential

The SAT’s Effectiveness The SAT is the most widely accepted college admissions test; approximately two million students take it each year. The current SAT measures a student’s masteryin three core topics: English, Math, and Writing. The English section of the SAT is a multiple-choice test whichcovers vocabulary, reading comprehension, grammar, and literary analysis. The math test is multiple choice as well as student-produced response, where no answer choices are given but rather students can fill in bubbles for values 0-9999 and thus similar to an open-ended question.

The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college and university admissions in the United States. It was first introduced in 1926, and its name and scoring system have changed several times throughout the years. Many students around the world that want to pursue post-secondary institutions in the US make it a point to write the SAT at least once in their high school career to better their chances of getting a higher score. This test has three parts to it – one reading, writing and one math. In order to achieve the best score that they can possibly get and be placed in the highest possible percentile, students may decide to attend SAT preparation classes starting from the early years of High/Middle School. The unfortunate reality of these extra preparation courses is that they are quite expensive, and due to this, they mostly cater towards to higher or higher-middle class families. Courses that provide extra preparation such as Ivy Global are not very affordable to many families and so students. According to many statistics and news reports, the higher the test taker’s family income, the higher their scores in the test. This has been a topic of great controversy as we have grown in the modern society