A few weeks ago on October 23, Kenwood offered sophomores and juniors the opportunity to take the PSAT for free during the school day.
T The PSAT is a 2 hour practice version of the SAT (preliminary sat) to act as a baseline for college readiness. It includes 2 sections: reading & writing and math. Student scores don’t matter, colleges don’t ask for your PSAT score nor will you have to report them. It’s a dry run at the SAT without having to worry about the results but it helps you identify what you need to work on for the actual SAT.
The best score a student can get on the PSAT is 1520 while a perfect on the SAT is a 1600. However, since the pandemic colleges have cut back on requiring the SAT for admissions. During the pandemic the SAT/ACT for many colleges became test-optional. Many colleges even after the pandemic have stayed test-optional. These colleges have kept the test-optional policy as many saw a rise in a more diverse admissions and acceptance rate than before.
Critics everywhere are divided on whether or not the SAT’s are indicative of success. In an article about the history of the SAT many critics are in question on if tests are even truly an assessment on one’s intellectual ability as “Some critics viewed the multiple-choice format as encouraging memorization and guessing.”
Many schools have opted to go optional on tests, which has led to emphasis on one’s GPA and extracurriculars in order to better understand and determine how a person might succeed in college. Many colleges might come to the conclusion that a definite requirement for SAT has lessened the amount of applicants.
Although critics may be divided, many schools have decided to make SAT scores optional because of higher enrollment rates. Many researchers come up with many different conclusions, a research paper from Opportunity Insights found “…there is no evidence that students from higher-resourced backgrounds outperform students from lower-resourced backgrounds”.
While researchers from Fairtest states, “Data they analyzed demonstrated that using the high school record alone to predict who would complete a bachelor’s degree resulted in “correct” admissions decisions 73.4% of the time, while using the SAT I and high school GPA forecast “correct” admissions in 72.2% of the cases.” Both show a small change in actually predicting student success, it may show that predictability might not necessarily be a major factor for admissions.
For Kenwood, they seem to be in agreement that maybe it’s a good thing the SATs are becoming optional. Teacher, Ms. Glenn shares, “I believe that the SAT is not an accurate predictor of success in college. Some people are really smart but don’t work hard while others work hard to succeed though they may not perform well on test.” Many people believe that the SAT is an inaccurate measure of success, while others praise it for being able in their eyes to predict a student’s future success.
A student from Kenwood senior London Lynch adds, “I think it’s a good idea that SAT’s are becoming optional in college applications.” She reasons that “…it’s gives more kids an opportunity to go to college without a singular test weighing them down.” She also adds. “If students are good at school and are good students but don’t test well…that’s unfair for them not to go to college because of a test.” Feeling as though the test is a make or break for many students, can keep them from pursuing higher education.
Another student junior Rylee Mason agrees stating that “Some people dream of going to college but fear they can’t get in because they’re so stressed and panicky during the SAT .” Maybe the SAT is an unneeded stressor on otherwise successful students. The SAT for both seniors and juniors are a foreboding presence in the back of their minds, but maybe now with the test optional policies will try to go to college when they may have never tried or gone to college.
Instead of focusing on predicting how a student might succeed, ask how we can help make sure this student better succeeds in our environment. Both critics and schools are more focused on numbers and how they perceive intelligence than how students are either advantaged or disadvantaged that might contribute to their downplayed future success.
RESOURCES:
College Admissions Tests: A Brief History of ACT and SAT
The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing | NEA
Standardized Test Scores and Academic Performance at Ivy-Plus Colleges
SAT I: A Faulty Instrument For Predicting College Success – Fairtest
A College Admissions Expert Explains What Going Test-Optional Means for High School Seniors
