Once students reach college, gone are the days — or rather, sleepless nights — of preparing and studying for one of the biggest tests in every young adult’s life: the dreaded SAT and ACT.
Just the mere mention of the SATs brings back a sick, twisted form of nostalgia to many college students. One of the worst parts of the SAT is studying for it. What undergrad does not remember curling up by the fireplace, reading “The Official SAT Study Guide,” published by the illustrious and oh-so prolific College Board?
But who can blame the masses of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and optimistic high school youth? They have dreams of higher education. After all, many colleges put a high emphasis on SAT and ACT scores, right?
Well, in this day and age, not so much. Other parts of the college application process deserve to be more important rather than the almost arbitrary number students receive on the SAT and ACT.
Some college admissions offices across the nation pay too much attention to the standardized test scores — a test students take once in their life. This is not necessarily indicative of whether the student is ready to succeed at the college level.
After a national dip in standardized test scores a few years ago, the College Board came under fire for how highly regarded SAT scores were. This questioned the validity of the test in general.
“We think (the dip) demonstrates the fundamental lack of value of the SAT as an accurate measure of preparedness for college,” Robert Schaeffer, a spokesman at the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, told the Yale Daily News.
All this importance on SAT scores, paired with a tremendous pressure from family, teachers and peers to do well makes the SAT one intimidating monster of an exam.
This drove nearly 20 high school students in Long Island to cheat on the test. The students paid an expert test taker to take the exam for them. The students’ “employees” took both the SAT and the ACT.
“They (were) all charged with scheming to defraud in the first degree, criminal impersonation in the second degree, and falsifying business records in the first degree,” the article read.
Granted, these students should not have fraudulently cheated the system in order to get a good SAT score. But who could blame them for wanting to go to college? To them, the ends justified their means.
If it weren’t for the insane pressure to go to college, and the somewhat ridiculous admissions process, people would not be driven to extremes.
Let’s ditch the number two pencils and the answer bubbles to focus on what’s really makes a good student; real grades, real essays, real stories and real scholastic aptitude.
Reach the columnist at jermac@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
