From the article: Low SAT or ACT Scores? These Colleges Don't Require the Tests.
People tend to either love or hate standardized tests. Many colleges have recognized that the tests aren't always the best measure of a student's potential for academic success, so over 850 schools are now test-optional. What do you think? Should the SAT or ACT be required or optional? Share Your Opinion
Testing Optional is the best policy
- I am not anti testing, but I don't think that the SAT should be weight too heavily. Yes, GPA and class rank can be unreliable but so can SAT scores. How can a standardized test made for millions really be an accurate gauge of how someone will do in college? The test will inherently have flaws, things you that work in school may not work on the test. Take for example the SAT Essay, many have come out and said the main reason students receive high scores is the length of the essay. That is opposite of a high school essay. As far as the SAT indicating anything about your future, I am not sure. So someone forgot the Number Theory and bombs the math section, is that any indication that they will bomb advanced courses and/or fail at their jobs? Anyway, I still feel that those who did well on the SAT should be rewarded. So that is why the testing optional policy is the best policy, it caters to every student. Those good at the SAT can be rewarded, and those who are not would have a chance too
- —Guest Mark
SAT
- First of all the SAT is really exclusive. It is not made for students who are smart, dumb, or average. It is made for students that work hard and study A LOT for the test. If you don't study as much as you are supposed to, you will not do well. I, a sophmore, have worked extrememly hard on the SAT so far. My score is a 2050-2100, and I can't overcome my reading score. It isn't my lack of knowledge that hinders me, it is my lack of dedication. Furthermore, the SAT is a test to point out the hard-workers. It is a STANDARDIZED test that allows colleges to directly compare you to other students. They have no other direct comparision as GPA may be curved (by tests, quizzes, generous scores increases). Also, if one just doesn't do well on the SAT, one can easily take the ACT, which emphasizes math and science. So, the SAT shouldn't be optional because it's a great comparing device for colleges. Just work hard (or EXTREMELY hard) and you will evetually get the score that you have been wanting
- —Guest Allen Texas Kid
yes
- I have a master's degree and I have never taken any of these tests, ACT, SAT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT . . .. My GPA in college was about a 3.6 and even higher in grad school.
- —Guest e148
I can't believe this.
- Do you how inflated GPA is at certain high schools?! We need standardized testing to determine the capabilities of a student. GPA is not enough, even with teacher recommendation letters and extracurricular activities. It is "standard" for a reason. The SAT and ACT tests are universal, while high school classes vary greatly. You guys who are whining about the SAT's and/or ACT's are just angry you didn't score high enough. I didn't score high at all (1980 on SAT's) and I still think they should be mandatory. The more information a college receives, the better a college can evaluate a student.
- —Guest Outraged
Not even optional. Act/Sat should be ban
- Act/Sat shouldn't even be required in school due to already pressured senior year. Students at this time need to focus on their school work, colleges, and enjoying life. If Sat/Act are required by UC it only adds on to the unneeded stress. Sat/Act although can somewhat predict how prepared you are, but like others have stated, richer families can afford tutors and books to help their child succeed. Poor families can not afford to because maybe they can't afford it or their children have a part time job. I believe Sat/ Act are just putting labels onto kids without regarding each of the student's background. For example, one of my friends who cheats almost 90 percent of the time and always copies homework somehow earned a 2110 on the Sat's. Later I found out his parents are senior engineers and a member of city council. They have sent him to a private institution that specializes in teaching kids SAT/ ACT materials. This is just one flaw in many that concern standardize testing.
- —Guest High School Senior
I didnt take it
- I currently attend a high school whose motto is "we are college bound". I wasn’t as motivated at first to start the whole college process. I went to take the sat once in June, but when I got there I realized my ticket was still at home. After much thought I decided I wasn’t going to take it, this is frowned upon by a lot of people but is my life and my choice. I don’t believe a number, off a few hour test, should reflect on 4 years of high school experience. It makes people seem like products being graded on an assembly line. I’m telling the colleges I’m applying to the same thing I just said. If I’m not even considered by some, then those are obviously not the schools I wanted to begin with. So yes, the sat should absolutely be optional for all schools, if not eliminated altogether.
- —Guest cjw
yes
- High school grades and AP classes measure effort. SAT/ACT measure potential. TOP SCHOOLS WANT BOTH.
- —typeters
yes
- Top colleges receive 20,000 applications for 4,000 spots. All the students are "A" students with good letters of rec., extracurricular activities and well written essays. The schools can only spend 30 minutes per application, so how should the college decide who to accept?
- —typeters
SAT
- Since all high school kids today are "A" students the SAT/ACT help schools decide between a kid from Virginia, one from Maine and one from Florida. There is no other way to compare kids from different schools in different states.
- —typeters
Practice, practice, and more practice!
- I'm currently a junior in high school and in the extremely grueling process of preparing for the ACT/SAT. I'm actually taking a break from my daily 2 hour ACT/SAT study session to type this. People can debate constantly about whether or not standardised testing should be required or not, but it all boils down to practice and hard work. Thousands of study materials are available to those students who do terribly on these tests and there is no reason why they shouldn't be putting them to good use. Practice makes perfect. Although I believe the tests are overrated, they provide colleges with a way of sorting through the thousands of college applications they receive. Not to mention there are PLENTY of colleges that do NOT require ACT/SAT scores. The tests aren't going anywhere, let's face it. Not to mention those who are against standardized testing are the ones who tend to score poorly... Hmm... Anyone noticing a trend here?
- —Guest The Truth
A four hour test
- DOES NOT MEASURE YOUR FOUR YEARS IN HIGH SCHOOL. You want to know why some of these people are saying, "Oh yeah keep the SAT, it measures intelligence." It's probably because those people did well. If I did well, I still wouldn't say keep the SAT. I HATE HOW COLLEGES TAKE SATS INTO GREAT CONSIDERATION. How will a four hour test on a Saturday morning tell someone how I will do my first year in college? IT WON'T. I know students who slacked all four years, received C's and D's in AP and honors courses and got a 2000 on the SAT. That's ridiculous. I don't do well on the sat but I receive A's and B's in all of my honors and APs and got a SAT of 1770. Now is that really fair to me if the person who blew off school was accepted into college over me, because of their better test score?
- —Guest saltnpeppa
yes
- I haven't taken the ACT or SAT yet, but from what i hear, they are very biased and don't really measure your actual knowledge of the subject. With my status I would probably fail it and never get into the college I want. They should definitely be optional!
- —Guest newbie
yes
- Honestly the ACT is overrated. It's not really that hard and if you did well in school you will be fine. I didn't study for it that much and managed a 32. Stop whining guys. Life is tough
- —Guest youma
mom of two boys
- shouldn't be required at all. I had one son that did not have prep tests and scored 1910 first time out. I had another son that took Princeton Review prep course and scored 1910 also - it wasn't a knowledge test course it was a 'how to take the test' course. My first son loves multiple choice tests because in his words, "you don't have to know anything" - just how to take the test". In both cases, knowledge was not being measured. Throw ALL multiple choice tests out! Also, get rid of teacher tenure and the unions! I'm tired of bad teaching and mediocre, unprofessional teachers!
- —Guest mom
Yes, definitely should be optional
- SAT/ACT scores don't really represent one's academic ability. All they measure is how well you can take a test. Even then, it's very hard to improve such test scores, even with test preparation. For example, I could only get my reading score up to a 570 or so even with an SAT class and a lot of preparation. Yet I got an 800 on Math II and 740 on Physics with absolutely no practice (math, physics are my strongest subjects anyway). You pretty much have to be already proficient at the subject matter to get a good score.
- —rcspence
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