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Sarah Jacobson
For decades, the SAT, a standardized aptitude test, has been used for college admissions in the United States. Administered by the College Board, the SAT is a multiple-choice paper-based test meant to measure a student’s reading, math, and writing skills. Students in grades 11-12 take the SAT to submit their scores to colleges as part of their applications. Amid the pandemic, however, many colleges have dropped the requirement for SAT scores for admission. According to The Economic Times, the College Board announced that the SAT will go digital and be reduced to two hours long. However, should the SAT be dropped altogether? Is it really an accurate measure of a student’s intelligence? Although many argue that the SAT helps students prepare for college and shows a student’s readiness for college work, this standardized test is not the best indicator of success and is actually quite unnecessary.
The controversial standardized test is unfair to students in many ways. For example, many students come from low-income families and cannot afford to take the exam. Furthermore, some low-income students may not have the right resources to practice and prepare for the test. Resources ranging from practice books to private tutoring, although not wholly combined, there is enough of a link between household income and test performance. Students who suffer from test anxiety are also automatically set back compared to those who don’t. Although this is true for any classroom test, anxiety is likely a bigger problem with the SAT because of the pressure students face to score well, even more so as it is a part of what determines their college future.
The SAT is unfair to students, but it is also not the most accurate measure of how smart a student is, nor is it the best indicator of college readiness. While the SAT might indicate how well a student can take an exam in a timed setting, how well the student actually does on the SAT says very little about the long-term skills needed to succeed in college, such as study habits and work ethic. Additionally, if a student takes the SAT twice but gets two very different scores, the test is not a reliable guide for how well the student would perform in college. Many students are brilliant and hard-working, but do not hold the strength of taking exams in a timed setting. Long-term work ethic is a much stronger indicator of how good of a student one is, rather than a single SAT score.
There are also racial and gender gaps in average SAT scores. SAT scores and race have a linear relationship. For example, many of the SAT questions may be unfamiliar to immigrant students who are not yet proficient in American language use and culture. There is also strong evidence that the SAT has a racist and biased history. The Educational Testing Services “scans” questions for possible SAT use. Some questions are labeled “black questions,” meaning that black students are more likely to answer correctly, and “white questions,” meaning that white students are more likely to answer correctly. According to admissions test expert Jay Rosner, only “white questions” are used on the SAT. Although a student's intelligence is different from their race, this remark can be quite unfair to some students depending on their race.
An SAT score may seem important, but it's just a test score at the end of the day. SATs don't determine intelligent students or if they are ready for college. There are better indicators of success. In the end, SATs are not necessary.
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