The Scholastic Assessment Test or the SAT was introduced into the United States education system more than one hundred years ago.
According to prepscholar.com, students across the country take the standardized test to show colleges their reading comprehension, computational ability and clarity of expression. All of these skills help college boards to narrow down the number of students that will be accepted into their school.
However, many have argued that taking the SAT scores doesn’t reflect on a student’s college performance or that the results are biased to the resources of the applicant’s family. There are also some students that are choosing to not take the SAT or ACT (The American College Test), altogether as many colleges are becoming more lenient about requiring the tests.
Despite several deciding not to assess, various students at Eagle High are still making the choice to take the SAT.
“I think it’s worth it if you want to go out of state for college since they require it when you apply,” said junior Gracie Boomgarden.
However, during the pandemic, several colleges made the SAT and ACT optional since it was difficult to safely distribute the test while keeping the student’s health in mind. Although the pandemic has died down, there are still a few colleges that are not choosing to keep the tests optional for the students.
The SAT has four sections beginning with reading and writing, then a math section without a calculator allowed. After that, is the section where calculators are permitted, and if students choose to take the SAT essay, that will be the final part of the assessment. Testers have three hours to take the test with a five-minute break after every hour of testing.
Although it can help students boost their college resumés and show their ability to perform well under pressure, some don’t feel it shows an accurate representation of what they can bring to the table.
“I honestly think it’s so stressful just for one test,” said junior Charlotte White. “There’s people who aren’t the best at test taking but are smart in other ways, so I don’t feel that’s it’s fair to judge everything we’ve learned on one test that changes our whole lives.”
The topic of eliminating the SAT from college entry requirements has been up for debate for decades now. One side argues that just looking at high school grades alone doesn’t allow colleges to see which kids will thrive and struggle. While others explain that looking at one test could show a person’s full potential. However, there are still students who have chosen to take the test at Eagle High and will take it on April 2.
