By Ben Chaddha, News Editor ‘21

SAT and ACT review books high school students use to study for the exam Image via Stack.com 

For over half a century, college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT have been administered to high school students. These standardized exams were thought to level the playing field between students all over the country; however, in the past few years, many students, parents, and teachers have begun to oppose the exams. Unfortunately, the test is often not an equal metric for measuring student’s academic ability, especially when it comes to comparing students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. Often, students from wealthier families are enrolled in extremely expensive, rigorous tutoring programs that provide a strong advantage over other students who are not enrolled in such programs. Many students that come from underprivileged families find it difficult to pay the $76 fee to register for and take the exam, let alone thousands of dollars for getting tutoring. 

In October 2019, the ACT announced that they will allow students to retake a specific section from the test in order to improve their score. This change is in addition to the Superscoring process both the SAT and ACT exams offer. Superscoring is when students are allowed to combine their scores from different exams. If students want to improve their SAT or ACT score, they would be required to retake the entire exam in order for it to be superscored. ACT’s new initiative would allow students to retake just one individual section from the five part test in order to improve their score. One result of this, as a USA Today  headline asserts, is that “ACT test changes could mean higher scores for wealthier students.” As stated above, there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and SAT and ACT scores. In fact, the ACT’s new system will likely make this correlation even stronger. A local Michigan newspaper article states, “Critics of the [new ACT superscoring system] worry it will increase the role of socioeconomic status on performance, since those who come from higher-class backgrounds likely have more resources that will help them succeed on the exam, such as access to coaching and the money to take the exam multiple times.”ACT plans to roll out its new test taking system in September 2020. 

Recently, many popular colleges such as University of Chicago, University of Rochester, New York University, and Wake Forest University have waived their standardized testing requirements, making the requirement now optional. These schools hope that not requiring students to submit ACT and SAT scores will result in a more diverse student body. In doing so, many underrepresented communities will have a better chance of admission into top schools. 

Bowdoin College in Maine hasn’t required SAT or ACT scores since 1969. Even though Bowdoin doesn’t require these test scores, it still remains a prestigious school with one of the top physics undergraduate programs in the country, rated #14 on niche.com. Bowdoin College states on its admissions page, “Since 1969, we’ve been selecting the right applicants for Bowdoin, using only the materials that we require of you: your transcripts, your writing, and how your teachers talk about you.” The website also states, “This policy allows applicants to decide for themselves whether or not their SAT or ACT results accurately reflect their academic ability and potential.” Bowdoin’s test-optional policy allows students to decide if their test scores are an accurate representation of their academic ability. 

Another approach for universities is to take closer looks at students’ transcripts, extra-curricular activities, and recommendations. Most colleges want to see students challenging themselves in their environments. In other words, students should take the hardest courses available to them while still doing well. Many schools also want to find well-rounded students with various extra-curricular activities who also excel in school. One of the most important aspects of a student’s college application is their recommendations, which provide important details about the student’s character. Given that these aspects are some of the more important parts of a college application, the SAT and ACT exams seem even more obsolete. Rather than building a picture of a student’s character, these exams instead “strip away student’s unique identity,” one anonymous Newark Academy student said. The same student also states,“If colleges are truly looking for a student body both diverse in background and diverse in thought, they should stop using college entrance exams as a metric for intelligence and success.” Another anonymous Newark Academy student says,“Academic success is still the most important aspect of college admissions. However, the SAT and ACT no longer successfully evaluates students’ intelligence or academic ability. Instead it evaluates how much a student is willing to spend on test prep. On the other hand, what classes a student takes in high school and how the student acts in an academic environment remains of utmost importance when deciding which students fit the school.” According to a recent Washington Post article, this mindset has been becoming more and more popular in recent years. Overall, the future of the SAT and ACT is largely unknown, but recent trends predict that the exams are likely to eventually become obsolete.