By Amelia Naughten, News Editor
With the PSAT and SAT season in full bloom, the buzz of test prep and SAT scores have been circulating around Mills. The recent introduction of the PSAT for free on October 14 inspired many sophomores and juniors to take advantage of this opportunity, but would they have done so had it not been so readily available?
Recently, there have been many reforms in the college admissions system. Not only with the June 29, 2023 Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, but also with the preceding decision to go “test blind.” Reformed accommodations have been adopted in an attempt to better the equity and diversity of the college admissions process as a whole.
And so the question lingers: Is it still necessary for students to dedicate their time and efforts to achieve a high score on the SAT?
As experts in the field, I interviewed our counselors on the relevance of SAT scores to a student’s application. Counselor Mack highlighted that the decision to take the SATs “depends very much on which colleges students want to apply for,” adding that while some private colleges continue to consider SAT scores, many have transitioned to going “test blind”, or to not consider SAT and ACT scores.
Ms.Murtagh, college career and financial advisor, asserted that “there’s maybe a few private colleges [who still consider SAT scores] but our UCs and CSUs no longer do…There’s no advantage to taking them [in that case].” Both Ms.Murtagh and Ms.Mack established that course rigor and GPA were among the most important factors in admissions, whether it be in combination with or in absence of the SAT.
Next, I looked into how effective the SAT was as a test of knowledge. The SAT is a multiple choice test, meaning that answers lack full insight into the students’ thought process. While no multiple choice test is perfect, the absence of reasoning or explanation for the student’s answer makes it difficult for educators to gauge the actual depth of the student’s knowledge.
Ms. Mack discussed the effectiveness of these tests, bringing up the research that has been conducted concerning the “achievement of students without requiring test scores.” In the research, Ms. Mack recalls that “they found that there hasn’t been much of a difference. Overall it does seem like test scores measure only a fairly narrow set of skills that can be a little helpful but definitely won’t tell the full picture.”
The counselors also brought up the fact that the overwhelming amount of questions can elicit test stress, or test anxiety, which can obfuscate a student’s actual aptitude. This phenomenon is not uncommon among students with the traditional importance academia, parents and peers have placed on the desire to do well on the SAT.
Due these pressures, tutoring programs and SAT preparation classes have become a popular means to getting ahead of the crowd — but at what cost?
Due to the competitive environment surrounding SAT achievement, many students feel pressured to get a leg up by taking tutoring programs and/or SAT preparation classes, often at a high cost of money and time. With all the money funneling into SAT preparation and administration, an industry unto itself has been created that may be distracting to providing a fair and balanced evaluation of a student’s qualification for higher education.
On the other hand, there are colleges who still provide merit scholarships that can be helpful for high scoring students, and according to Ms. Mack, they “can make a pretty big difference.” However, due to this tutoring system, middle class students are set at a disadvantage for opportunities like these. Moreover, these preparation classes often span for months, taking up every weekend morning, which is time that could be spent simply spending time with family or friends. But instead, students are encouraged to spend another day of their week stressing over academic matters, something that many would simply term a “road bump” in the larger scheme of things, not taking into account the toll this schedule takes on students’ health.
Ms. Murtagh emphasized that using your free time to do what you are truly passionate about is key. As a former college admissions board officer herself, she recounts that administrators have taken a holistic approach to students. In other words, it’s the extracurriculars and hobbies that you invest time into that truly reflect who you are as a student and as a person. She encourages students to explore the different opportunities around them, such as taking a job, volunteer, or club position. To her, this showcases more of who the student is, and to colleges, this reads clearer than a numbered SAT score.
“Our students here at Mills already challenge themselves and they work very hard to get a good education…I would like to take one less stress off our student’s shoulders,” Ms. Murtagh expressed.
This statement rings more than enough truth among our student body, and it’s important that we recognize the implications that the SATs carry. While it will always remain the choice of each student to take the SAT, the pressure that we tax on students to feel obligated to take the SAT is no longer necessary, nor is it productive in the long run.
