Why The SAT Should Be Abolished

For decades the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) has dictated college applicants’ future. The SAT traditionally has been utilized as one of the sole deciding factors in a high school student’s admission into his or her dream school. The history of the SAT’s began in 1926; the name and scoring have been changed multiple times. No matter the change, it has stood the test of time. Year in and year out, hopeful students have willfully subjected themselves to take the test that would most likely direct the course of their life (Epstein). One test has decided the future of countless students, but now colleges across the nation are starting to make the SATs optional in the application process. With hundreds of colleges either already on the bandwagon

When a college is SAT optional it will look into an applicant’s high school GPA, résumé, and transcript have a more significant impact. Admissions offices will thoroughly review all classes seeing whether or not the student will be able to carry the workload of a college student. Andrew S. Belasco, a researcher of the SATs wrote this, “Research has suggested that standardized test scores lose much of their ability to predict postsecondary success” (Belasco). Colleges are starting to believe that looking at the students GPA will ultimately be a better predictor than any standardized test. There are classes that help you prepare for the SAT, so kids taking the test know exactly what will be on it and this helps kids get a higher score. As an added advantage, a student may take the SAT as many times as they want and schools will only look at your highest score. Ultimately allowing the student to try and try again until he gets a sufficient score. However, looking at the GPA, will show how a student undertakes school (Belasco). Résumé’s and high school transcripts will now come into more scrutiny from college admissions. They will look to see that the student is taking demanding classes all four years of high school. AP and honors classes are the most appealing classes on a transcript because those classes will translate the most toward a college class’ work load. Admissions will look at

As well, Someone’s SAT score should be another deciding factor in the academic scholarship they receive. If someone does an amazing job on the SAT and has an immaculate GPA, they should be offered more scholarship money than the applicant with a good GPA but not up to snuff SAT scores. Another reason colleges are hesitant in making a change is that they believe it would hurt the colleges appearance. Steven Syverson, another writer into the test optional movement said it best, “If they didn’t ask for the scores, they would be regarded in the marketplace as having very low prestige. High level schools can’t afford that” (syverson). Schools believe that without the SATs to filter out the “lower quality” students it will increase the number of students that will ultimately drop out of college soon after they start. In turn if those numbers are high the school will start to lose face and be known as a school not to go to. Also, just the fact that they don’t ask for test scores will crush the schools prestige against rival schools that do ask for scores (Syverson). Arguments go back and forth and the controversy does not look to be going away anytime soon. Schools will continue to push forward and change their views. However, there will be schools that will be too concerned with their prestige to make a