By: Synai Hightower
April 3, 2024
When Covid-19 was on the rise and testing centers were shutting down, most American universities collectively did away with the nearly 100-year-old practice of requiring SATs. Since 2020, a lot of universities have remained this way. Incoming and current college students have since taken advantage of and used it to strengthen their applications. Since the normalization of applying to college or university test-optional, 80 percent of applicants at a four-year university have submitted test-optional in 2022-2023.
“Even though the score that I got is slightly above average at the school. Cause with schools like for example, Penn is tough, soft test-optional,” Ayan Ali, a current high school senior at Carver High School of Engineering and Science, said. “And they kind of have this holistic review so they look at you as a whole and if it's me against another student. I have my 1100 versus that student has like, let's say like a 1400, that's kind of the deciding factor after everything else.”
While the option is still there, most students have adapted to not needing to take the SAT at all. The concerns of current high school and college students are aligning. Most current college students had the option of not submitting test scores and took advantage of that new avenue. College students have taken control of their education and how universities perceive them. When speaking to a current college freshman, he explains how he allowed the other aspects of his application to shine through.
“Freshman year like my mom and dad were like really telling me to please study on it, even though I had time, but they honestly wanted me to do it, but my grades were pretty decent to get into college,” say Macauley McFiberesima, a current Temple University freshman, “there's other stuff that can help you get into college. I did sports and a lot of clubs to help me get into college.”
The potential reinstatement poses the longstanding issue of its inability to accurately qualify intelligence. The current arrangement of the SAT is designed for understanding the questions’ structure and the ability to identify themes in the test. Household is an implicit factor that determines a student’s SAT or ACT score. On SAT/ACTs, children of the top one percent of Americans are 13 times more likely to score a 1300 or higher than low-income students, according to the Harvard Gazette. Most students are at an inherent disadvantage, especially those in urban communities.
“Test scores are kind of linearly aligned with parents' income because of people being able, because I wasn't able to get a private tutor,” Ali continues, “I feel like if I was and got dedicated time, my scores would have probably looked way better than the way they did."
Counselors and advisors have noticed the stress in students, however they don’t think it should discourage them. With the rise in anxiety that comes with these tests, Mr. Neil, a counselor at Carver High School of Engineering and Science, does not want students to be hyper focused on these tests as their make or break. Over the last 50 years, studies have shown that students with test anxiety will score lower.
“Yeah, I don't think it shouldn't discourage them. I just think that there are more options out there. Even if you choose not to take the LSAT or if you don't do as well as you want it on. SATs, right. You still got options out there,” Neil says.
Test anxiety has been around since as long as tests have been standardized across the world, and the SAT is no different. According to a UCLA research study, anxiety affects 40-60% of students. With the requirement waived, test anxiety has fallen, however it is still a contributing factor to the outcomes for most students.
“So in addition to preparing for this the next day, I was also in the midst of a lot of other academic obligations activities,” Ali says. “But I was pretty nervous leading up to it. I slept in and I almost missed it. I didn't print out my admissions ticket… So I just felt anxious. But after the test was done, I felt kind of relieved and it felt kind of surreal to take the SATs because it's kind of like, yeah, it's a big deal.”
The reinstatement is looming, but have any universities put it into effect yet? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Florida reinstated their requirement in 2022, just as the pandemic was dying out. This fall, all first-year applications for Brown, Dartmouth, Yale, and UT Austin must include standardized testing scores. With Ivy League and other prestigious universities, they tend to copy one another. Therefore, the SAT requirement may reclaim its spot as the standard.
“Due to the pandemic, many of the schools have still just been on this limb of not requiring it right… but we see one, I believe, started to make that move in that direction. Nine times out of 10 their counterparts are going to follow,” says Mr. Neal.
College admissions is all about playing to your strengths and presenting yourself in the best way possible. Students should utilize the options available to them.
Ultimately, counselors and advisors recommend students do what’s best for them and their applications. Colleges and universities provide the test-optional avenue to allow students to choose what makes them most appealing, setting them up for success.”It shouldn't hinder a student who doesn't want to because they feel like there's such a good candidate, but they're just not a test-taking person or they didn't have the resources to do their very best,” says Ali.
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