Test Optional Schools

There has been an SAT optional movement in which many liberal arts colleges in the US decided not to require SAT or ACT scores as they thought it had outlived its usefulness.

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

Successful ACT test takers may have no interest in college, yet they may be accepted and attend on scholarship money from the school because of the high ACT scores. This student might waste time and money in college because he or she has no real interest in school; he or she was simply good at taking multiple-choice tests. An essay question addressing and assessing the student's potential and desire to learn might have caught the unmotivated student before he or she entered college. Multiple-choice questions determining reading comprehension and grammar skills can easily be substituted with a different,

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.

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.

For many years, standardized tests have been a pillar of college admissions. Students are persuaded to take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) because colleges believe the scores can predict an applicant’s academic success after high school. However, an increasing number of colleges have made reporting test scores optional due to inconsistencies with the tests, many of which have been emphasized by students. These inconsistencies and other problems with test distribution have led to increasing demands for standardized testing to be reformed or become optional in the admissions process. Standardized testing should be eliminated as a criterion for college applicants because the tests have made education less significant, have made scores vary among students with similar academic abilities, and have not contributed a noticeable improvement to children’s intelligence.

The intended purpose of the College Board’s SAT is to show the academic potential of a student to colleges. However, this intent is not fulfilled, and the test favors those of higher income brackets. In fact, “About 30 percent of those who took the SAT were black, Hispanic or American Indian, groups whose scores have stubbornly remained lower than those of whites and Asians.” (The International Herald Tribune). Because those which are typically in lower income brackets have been statistically proven to average lower scores on the SAT, the test does not accomplish its intended purpose.

The truth concerning the predictive abilities of the SAT and ACT is clear; there are simply superior methods to evaluate potential college success. College admissions need to rely more heavily on factors such as High School GPA and SAT Subject and AP Tests, as these pieces of data contain a higher level of predictive power than SAT and ACT scores. Through the comparison of subject-specific tests and GPA to broad standardized tests, it is evident that the principles of our education system must be reinvented.

By now, everyone has come to the conclusion that SAT is a flawed system. The test is designed to determine the future of high school students. Its job is to capture a snapshot of what a student has learned over the course of their academic career. Unfortunately, this is not what happens. Instead of treating a student’s score as just a snapshot, colleges treat a student’s score as their complete academic intelligence. What the system fails to realize is that not all students are good test takers. A student could study for weeks, but when the curator says “You may begin” their mind goes blank. Furthermore, the education system has become too dependant on the SAT to calculate a student’s intelligence. The real emphasis should be on the student’s GPA, essays, extracurriculars, volunteer work, and how much they challenged themselves. Focusing on these aspects allows the college to review an applicant’s work ethic.

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.

Every student planning on going to college must take the SAT in order to receive scholarship money or to be accepted into most institutions of higher learning. The test was first introduced in 1926 and was adapted from a general IQ test for army recruits (“SAT History - The Evolution of the SAT”). It was used as a test to determine the intelligence of the soldiers. Now, it is a widely feared test that essentially predicts a student’s future. The scores can determine what path a student takes.

SAT is one of the most important of any teenager in high school. The SAT determines the fields of college admission and higher education. Moderate of student get into this $500 dollars program for 5 years to study for the SAT. This program helps a student get 1600 on the SAT. That 1600 includes math, reading, and writing. If you get a 800 on everything, then you might just get a scholarship. However, I believe that the SAT is not an accurate valid test for students. Many students have the knowledge to pass, but can also stress about it so much that it messes with them during the test. Also, I don’t think the SAT should affect whether you go into a good college or not. Yet, many student believe that this is their only shoot into

Sweat drips down my face as I try to remember the formulas for sine, cosine, and tangent. Is my calculator even in degree mode? Have I already exceeded my one-minute time limit for this problem? Will I do well enough on this test to get into my college of choice? These are all questions we have asked ourselves while taking the ACT. However, the real question is whether this test matters and why? Some educational experts would say no due to the flaws of the test. This is why students should not have to take standardized tests like the ACT and SAT. They generally do not predict college grades very well. These tests also add more stress onto the average student that is already being crushed under the weight of school in general. Lastly, studies have shown that the ACT and SAT can have certain biases that disadvantage some students.

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