SAT Pros And Cons

Imagine a test capable of making or breaking a student's chances of getting into his or her dream college. Imagine a test score that can be easily influenced, but only through thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Now imagine that same test but biased towards certain crowds of students while also being incapable of accurately predicting their futures. Is this the test you want for colleges to use in order to distinguish students? This is the SAT—famous for the unnecessary pressure it presents to students as well as the unfair disadvantages it presents to many others. Since these SAT scores are extremely artificial, SAT tests are not an accurate predictor for future success.

Each year high school students from around the country take the SAT or ACT. The ACT and SAT are both standardized test used by colleges to determine the knowledge of a student and predict what their performance will be in their first year of college. An immense amount of pressure is put on student to receive certain scores in order to obtain scholarships and admission into college. Even just one point on a student’s score can determine if they will be accepted into their dream college. However, the results from standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, are often inaccurate. Because of this one’s knowledge and academic ability are misrepresented, and they are denied certain opportunities. Standardized tests such as the ACT and the SAT

Standardized testing has been around since the early 1900’s. Today, it determines a high school student’s future. Every year juniors in high school start to prepare months in advance for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Along with the test itself, comes stress that is not necessary. The debate of standardized tests defining a student’s academic ability or not has become a recent popular controversial topic. Many colleges and universities are starting to have test optional applications because they are realizing that a single test score does not demonstrate the knowledge of a student. There is more value in a student that should rule an acceptance or rejection. In the article, “SAT Scores Help Colleges Make Better Decisions” Capterton states, “The SAT has proven to be valid, fair, and a reliable data tool for college admission” (Capterton). Capterton, president of the College Board, believes that the SAT’s and ACT’s should be used to determine a student’s acceptance because it is an accurate measure. What Capterton and deans of admissions of colleges and universities don’t know is the abundant amount of resources upper class families have for preparation, the creative talents a student has outside of taking tests, and the amount of stress they put on a 17 year old.

The SAT is a test that many feel helps the privileged. Many also believe that it is unnecessary and that it does not actually prepare students for college or the future. Charles Murray in the article, “Abolish the SAT” also believes that the SAT needs to be “abolished” and writes on why we do not need the SAT in a critical and vigorous manner.

Being admitted into college is a difficult process, one that requires students to be diligent in their studies, engage in a number of extracurricular activities, and overcome the everyday pressures and challenges that high-schoolers face across the country. Admittedly, not everyone in the United States is born with the same opportunities as socioeconomic factors as well as historic injustices have contributed to a society in which some people are far more likely to achieve upward mobility – of which, obtaining a college degree is a necessary part – than others. While there is need to rectify this reality,

Schools need to find ways to evaluate students which do not discriminate on race, gender, or economic status. By using tests like the ACT and SAT, colleges are unintentionally showing favoritism to groups like Caucasians, males, and the upper class. "Standardized tests are biased in favor of those whose culture and upbringing most closely resembles that of the test makers- typically, white middle-class males" (Facts). FairTest: The National Center for Fair and Open Testing did a study

“I was in trouble. The first analogies were pretty straightforward- along the lines of ‘leopard is to spotted as zebra is too striped’- but now I was in the tall weeds of nuance. Kangaroo is to marsupial as the giant squid is to- I don’t know, maybe D) cephalopod?” (Boylan). As we all know, tests vary from straightforward, to mildly difficult, to just unforgiving and torture for the mind, but this is life and whether people like it or not, everybody has to take a test in their academic career. In specific, the quote at the start of the paragraph shows the author of Save Us From the SAT, explaining to the reader her struggles when she took the SAT or Scholastic Assessment Test. But not to worry because College Board announced in late March that they will be redesigning the SAT to make it, as they say, more high school oriented. The way the SAT is being changed is by making the essay optional, taking out the odd and unusual vocabulary words and replacing them with words that people use day to day life, allowing it to be taken on a computer, and most importantly not penalizing the test taker for getting the wrong answer. This all sounds fantastic, but there is one problem and that is that the new exam will be put into use in 2016. That is my problem, why would they make people suffer and make the test only available until 2016. In my opinion, College Board should speed up the process of making the new SAT in order for other people to benefit from the changes.

Einstein once said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Likewise, if a poor test-taker is judged by their SAT score, they could be forced to attend an inadequate institute of higher education. For decades, the SAT has been “the test” that makes or breaks a student's chances of getting into their top college. Generally, the privileged populace do well, but minorities and women do not come out as strong and are therefore limited to college choice. The SAT has proven to be an unsuitable, biased method for predicting success of students in college.

The intended purpose of the College Board’s SAT is to show the academic potential of a student to colleges. However, this intent is not fulfilled, and the test favors those of higher income brackets. In fact, “About 30 percent of those who took the SAT were black, Hispanic or American Indian, groups whose scores have stubbornly remained lower than those of whites and Asians.” (The International Herald Tribune). Because those which are typically in lower income brackets have been statistically proven to average lower scores on the SAT, the test does not accomplish its intended purpose.

The SAT’s prove to be a harmful to a student’s future, especially when they start looking for jobs. The SAT’s do not teach the skills needed to function on the job, and hinder the creativity needed on the job. The SAT’s also divide people into “high-scored” and “low-scored”, which excludes people from certain jobs, even though they might have the qualifications for that job. Both these reasons cause a student to not receive the job they may deserve. But there are ways to reverse this epidemic. Colleges may implement a different admissions process; one that judges a student on more than their academic power.

A research study conducted by Robert Schachter found that “performing poorly on the SAT may be an academic equivalent of ‘choking’ in sports” (“Enhancing Performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test for Test-Anxious High School Students,” 2007, para.1). Many students know the material and are smart students, but when it comes to test taking they panic. Students panic for many reasons, “noticing that time is running out, not knowing several answers, and seeing others finishing the test” (Schachter, 2007, p. 107). Another con of standardized testing is that ¨students also feel the additional stress that their performance [on these tests] is going to affect the life of their teacher in some way¨ (“16 Biggest Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing,” 2017, p. 3). The

Most believe the SAT to be a valid method of testing your knowledge. Others believe it to be incredibly biased and unfair towards those who have a lower financial status. The SAT should be abolished because it has given unfair disadvantages to the less financially stable and in doing so it has allowed college campuses to result in a less diverse student body and because of the impact it has on college admissions the SAT has prevented some students from obtaining a higher education. The cost of tutoring programs for the SAT are immensely high and out of the question for those who are poverty stricken or in the lower middle class.

SAT is one of the most important of any teenager in high school. The SAT determines the fields of college admission and higher education. Moderate of student get into this $500 dollars program for 5 years to study for the SAT. This program helps a student get 1600 on the SAT. That 1600 includes math, reading, and writing. If you get a 800 on everything, then you might just get a scholarship. However, I believe that the SAT is not an accurate valid test for students. Many students have the knowledge to pass, but can also stress about it so much that it messes with them during the test. Also, I don’t think the SAT should affect whether you go into a good college or not. Yet, many student believe that this is their only shoot into

Although I already plan on taking the SAT, this article made me want to rake it even more. It contained multiple amounts of persuading evidence, Everything was backed up. It even had a counterargument, which was why you would take the ACT. Although it was in a list format, it felt just like a well-structured article, having everything it needed to persuade the reader. I feel as though reading this article can make anyone believe that the SAT’s are beneficial in many ways and are a good thing. It made me believe that everyone should at least try the test because it does more good than bad. Reading this article, for me, it was very smooth. It had a nice flow to it. One thing I have learned to do but did not see much of int his article was citing

A key component for getting scholarships towards college is getting a good score on the ACT or SAT. The ACT has questions that are more straightforward and has a science section while the SAT doesn’t. The SAT also requires every person to take an essay while the ACT essay is optional. When colleges look at your ACT score, they look at the composite score, but when colleges look at your SAT score, they look at each section. Although the ACT and SAT each have advantages and disadvantages, I believe the ACT is the better choice.