SAT Flaws

With college admissions relying so highly on these tests many bright and capable students are getting left with little options (Sternberg 7). These students are facing this because the ACT and SAT primary focus on a narrow segment of skills that are needed to become a person that makes significant differences to the world (Sternberg 7). College’s argue that the admission test give them a quick glimpse of what the students potential is because they do not have to time to individually evaluate each potential student. This may be true but we need a better way to distinguish a person’s abilities than just a simple score on a test.

Standardized testing has been around since the early 1900’s. Today, it determines a high school student’s future. Every year juniors in high school start to prepare months in advance for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Along with the test itself, comes stress that is not necessary. The debate of standardized tests defining a student’s academic ability or not has become a recent popular controversial topic. Many colleges and universities are starting to have test optional applications because they are realizing that a single test score does not demonstrate the knowledge of a student. There is more value in a student that should rule an acceptance or rejection. In the article, “SAT Scores Help Colleges Make Better Decisions” Capterton states, “The SAT has proven to be valid, fair, and a reliable data tool for college admission” (Capterton). Capterton, president of the College Board, believes that the SAT’s and ACT’s should be used to determine a student’s acceptance because it is an accurate measure. What Capterton and deans of admissions of colleges and universities don’t know is the abundant amount of resources upper class families have for preparation, the creative talents a student has outside of taking tests, and the amount of stress they put on a 17 year old.

Each year high school students from around the country take the SAT or ACT. The ACT and SAT are both standardized test used by colleges to determine the knowledge of a student and predict what their performance will be in their first year of college. An immense amount of pressure is put on student to receive certain scores in order to obtain scholarships and admission into college. Even just one point on a student’s score can determine if they will be accepted into their dream college. However, the results from standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, are often inaccurate. Because of this one’s knowledge and academic ability are misrepresented, and they are denied certain opportunities. Standardized tests such as the ACT and the SAT

The College Board and ACT nonprofit organizations, known for developing and administering the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) assessment respectively, represents higher education’s widely accepted college readiness determinant for prospective students. These examinations empirically measure a student’s grasp of reading, writing, and mathematics – subjects taught every day in high school classrooms. As a result, they typically constitute a significant proportion of the total entrance requirements for prospective students to relevant institutions of higher learning and denote a serious endeavor unto itself. Students commonly take one or both of these examinations during their junior or senior year of high school as dictated by an institution’s administrative guidelines, although most colleges now allow either test as part of their proprietary admission formulas. And since it turns out there exists subtle differences in the tests themselves, students should review research concluding certain individuals may be better candidates for maximizing performance on one examination versus another.

Standardized tests give students who are better test takers an advantage over those who are not. An American association known as Posse Scholars gives students who excelled in school the opportunity to retake the SAT if their scores were not expected. “Posse Scholars' combined median reading and math SAT score is only 1,050, while the median combined score at the colleges Posse students attend varies from 1,210 to 1,475. Nevertheless, they succeed. Ninety percent of Posse Scholars graduate -- half of them on the dean's list and a quarter with academic honors” (Rosenberg). Posse has a goal of eliminating the gap between students’ scores on the SAT. They choose students all around America who excel in academics but didn’t score exactly how they wanted to have another chance in conquering the test. This way, gaps in SAT scores will be a reflection of a student’s work in school rather than someone choking up on a

It demonstrates why the SAT does more harm than good in admitting students to universities and colleges. Although racial inequality and high school GPA versus SAT scores can account for some variation in why we should eliminate the SAT, I found that the test-optional approach offers a better understanding in the choices behind my reasoning. Scholars argued that the test-optional approach gives the less privileged students a better chance; as shown at Bates and UC. It allows for a more diverse student body because the requirement is not strictly based on test scores but on other factors, and it allows for a broader pool of applicants hailing from different socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnicities. It also gives students who do well on testing, the opportunity to submit their scores if needed. Thus, the test-optional approach does not restrict either party, but rather accommodates both types of students without affecting their

“A student body must be composed of more than students who do well on a test. A standardized achievement test cannot measure intangibles such as a candidate's drive and individual determination” (Spiegler, 2013). Since the mid-1800s, high stakes testing has been an enormous part of American education. In the American education system, the lack of success have been held accountable on the increasing levels in poverty, universal use of high stakes testing, and quality of teachers. High stakes testing demonstrates bias against women and categories of socioeconomic variety. The SAT and ACT are unfair because wealthier citizens can afford tutors to assist students with test tips and higher scores on the exams. While in the process of applying for

The issue with the SAT test is a dilemma when it comes to certain subgroups in this country, even though it seems to maintain its effectiveness for others depending upon race, ethnicity, and gender. Colleges and universities administrators, testing agencies and psychometricians should reassess the use of the SAT’s as the only means of admissions and develop new criteria for admissions for higher education.

Many students and parents may believe that investing a lot of time, money, and energy in preparation for the SAT helps students get accepted into their dream colleges, thus leading to a successful career. Despite that belief, “students may spend hundreds of dollars and countless hours on test prep and take the SAT multiple times, and still not receive a score that reflects their achievement in school (Vitale).” To refute the notion that the SAT leading students into a successful career, Professor Harvey Gilmore inputs his personal experience with the SAT. Gilmore compared his SAT scores to how they have affected him in the long run. He received a “830 out of 1600” on the SAT, which is equivalent to a “1245 out of a maximum score of 2400 today

That time when students must begin applying for university is quickly approaching. Many students are preparing to take standardized tests such as the SAT in order to get accepted into the university of their dreams. However, standardized tests such as the SAT do not properly assess the level of knowledge of students since equality is not the same as justice. Factors such as personal weaknesses and biological effects may not have been considered when standardized tests such as these were written or when it was decided that the SAT would be a major factor in being accepted into a university. Therefore, one's SAT scores should not be the most, or an, important factor in determining one's acceptance into university.

Colleges should rely on ACT and SAT scores to determine a student’s future. Studying for these test will teach a student to become more responsible and self-dependable, just as they are going to be college. Taking these test will help students prepare for the future and will also bring colleges recognize the accomplishment of a student. If a college or university sees that the student has a high score, then they are more likely to give out college acceptances and scholarships. These test are administered to high school students so they can put their good sense of knowledge from high school to good

Millions of Americans take the SAT each year, the most commonly used college admission test in the U.S. The SAT causes stress, is based on socioeconomic status, and doesn’t necessarily show someone’s academic success. It should be completely removed from the college admission process, and should not be considered at all.

The SAT: The Privileged and Their Ability to Pay for Points or an Exam that simply rewards Studious Habits: Dissecting the Nature of the SAT Exam

On Thursday, August 6th, 2015, Connecticut announced that all eleventh grade students in the state’s public school system would be administered the SAT college admissions exam at no cost to the students. This is going to replace the existing statewide exam, known as the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. As a rising junior attending a high school in Southwestern Connecticut, I strongly support this decision. Although I believe that standardized tests are not always an indicator of a student’s intelligence or work ethic, the widespread distribution of the SAT exam is going to be very beneficial.

My high school teachers always emphasized the great importance of our SAT scores and its great contribution to our college applications, and most importantly, the decision of either being accepted or not to the college we had highly anticipated. The SAT is taken by many high school students nationally as an entrance exam for many colleges and universities to admission decisions (How to Interpret Your SAT Score Report). Interestingly, the SAT was originally a scholarship test for Ivy League schools, “based off an Army IQ test, meant to help those who came from more humble backgrounds to be noticed by prestigious schools” (Sheffer, 2014). Nonetheless, many universities quickly followed and it