In the high-stakes world of college admissions, ACT and SAT scores have long held a position of importance. For decades these standardized tests have been the gold medal for assessing a students academic success and potential for higher education.
Yet, as the landscape of learning expands, questions about the significance of test scores begin to soar. Are these tests truly accurate measures of students’ academic ability, or are they simply the piece of a much larger puzzle?
According to Prepscholar, many schools began to stop requiring the test scores after covid. The 2022-2023 graduating year had 235 colleges not requiring test scores, some notable ones being Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and CalTech. If these schools are not requiring test scores, are they really necessary at all?
The answer is no, while yes, having good test scores and a good gpa gives the illusion that you would get into a good college, but that isn’t necessarily always the case. Wall street journal pleads the case of Kaitlyn Younger, an academic standout with a 1550 on her SAT, and a 3.95 grade point average.
A standout student since third grade, it was just assumed that Kaitlyn would have academic success all her life. And now that she was going to college, it was just the waiting game to see which colleges accepted her. However Kaitlyn was struck with dismay when she realized how many colleges denied her.
Kaitlyn applied to institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc.., yet she was rejected from all of them. Shocked was an understatement for Kaitlyn, after her academic success you would’ve thought she would have gone to a prestigious university. However Kaitlyn ended up at Arizona State University, a college with an 88% acceptance rate.
Recently, SAT and ACT scores mean nothing. All schools see a number on paper. And with the introduction of entrance exams, the SAT and ACT scores are being moved out.
Getting into prestigious schools is no longer based on your academic abilities, but based on who you know, legacies, donations, and sob stories. Which is throwing out the need for SAT and ACT scores.
