Every year, juniors and seniors stress over the fact that they have to get a good score on their SAT and/or ACT just to get into a great institution. Likewise, every year admissions counselors pore over applications, looking closely at prospective students and their scores on these tests. Are standardized tests really that accurate in predicting if a student will thrive at the best institutions in America? Or, are they just there to put high school students under the pressure that they don’t really need during the college process? Institutions might be asking for standardized tests because they want to capture the best students, but a test engineered by psychologists cannot possibly determine how smart you are.
Every college is starting to say in their interviews or information sessions that they look at the student as a whole, and their standardized test score is just another factor in the application. This cannot possibly be true, due to the fact that the Ivy League won’t even look at students with low test scores. How can it be fair that a student with pretty good grades hurts their application if their standardized test score isn’t well above average?
The College Board uses the SAT as a pure money-maker. In other words, these tests are just a business. Students have to pay around $50 to take the test, and then hundreds more dollars on tutors and preparation books. If everyone is spending so much time and money preparing for this test, then how exactly is it fair? Not every high school senior can afford to get tutored for this test that is so crucial in the college process. This makes standardized testing very unfair.
In addition, the smartest students can go take the SAT or ACT and receive a low score just because they were having a bad day. Those who spend months preparing for this test can still get the score that they find unfavorable. These tests are pushing students' brains to the limit when they’re in the midst of the most crucial part of their high school years. Colleges need to find other ways of assessing a student’s ability to thrive.
If more colleges could choose to become SAT/ACT optional, the college process could become a lot fairer for every high school student across America. Instead of stressing over these tests, students could put energy into focusing on getting better grades and building their resume for their college applications. Standardized tests have proven to be false in predicting how well a student will do in college. Admissions officers need to focus on the student as an all-around person, not a test score. This would eliminate the college board’s money-making business, keep students from thinking that their future is determined by one test, and make the entire college process fairer for all.
