College Should Stop Using Score for Admission - Essay Sample on Education Issue

Many teens across America wait eagerly for the result of their standardized testing since it determines the academic fate of every student who is admitted to a college. During college admissions seasons many students wait by their mail to know how well they performed on the exam that is viewed as the qualification for college admission. A lot of research has been conducted to determine how well the performance of that exam determines how well the result determines how the student will perform in future. The testing has been criticized by many people has the result do not reflect the performance in the college after admission. The SAT has not been proven as the measure of overall learned abilities.

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The performance of the student on the test is mainly influenced by the nature of the household dinner-table conversation and partially by the formal school instructions. It means that students who come from a high socioeconomic status will pass the test because they are mainly exposed to the vocabularies that are mostly used in the examination. In the U.S, more than 70% of the students being admitted to a four-year course take SAT or ACT exams to be admitted, but only about 200 students out of 1,800 places sufficient weight on the scores they get during admissions to make much difference in their performance throughout the college life. The SAT scores play a role in the fate of 1 out of 6 students who are admitted to a four-year course and 1 out of 13 undergraduates students(Ruenzel).

According to the proponents of SAT, what scores in this test determines the performance of the student and the grade he/she is likely to score in first-year. Although this might be true, it has nothing to do with the students principal goal during his/her four years in college as well as those of the parents and families and completing the bachelors degree. Also, the state legislature does not both about the score when they are judging the public universities performance. As long as someone has performed exceptionally well during the four years, he/she has to graduate. This means that test that takes just three hours cannot be used as a reliable predictor of graduation in college. But the academic intensity and the quality of the curriculum that the student had undergone in high school plays the primary role in college performance. It means that SAT undermines the ability of the faculty to judge students based on their actual performance rather the general aptitude. The actual achievement of the student is what should matter most, as the student should be judged on what they attained during their four years in high school. SAT draws attention away from what the student achieved in high school. Also, students and families do not place much importance on the score as the one given to the results of SAT by colleges when admission is being done (Wilgoren).

There are many reasons why the Standardized Testing (SAT) should be killed. One, the test slaughters literature, butchers poem, and novels to bits. According to the research piloted by the University of California, the process is slow, and many people do not realize the harm at the early stages (Ruenzel). Many teachers spend a significant amount of time preparing a SAT for their juniors at the expense of the already enrolled students. This is because in some cases they are forced to spend class time preparing for a SAT. Also, the teachers forget about the exam immediately after it is over but it the students who are left wondering about the outcomes of the whole process. But they do not share their concern with their teachers; they are left wondering about their stories, poems, and fiction characters they used in their exam (Adelman).

The criticism of SAT is still ongoing in California, and it was the first institution to challenge the use of SAT as mean of ensuring that a student can secure a vacant in a college. California is viewed as the hub of quality higher education in America, and it has continued to receive a lot of support from other states on the idea of banning SAT. In U.S not there are more than 700 universities and colleges are offering some flexibility when submitting their standardized tests scores in the admission process. For instance, Bates does not require standardized tests scores as a benchmark for admission in the college. Moreover, Muhlenberg, Dickson, and Union College do not need ACT or SAT anymore.

According to Robinson & Monks, there are two main advantages of not collecting a SAT or making it an optional. First, the institution might receive more applicants as some individuals who are deterred by the test might choose to apply for the admission. Some students who opt not to apply for the college because they do not want to sit the test might apply. The student might be having the desired quality or characteristics that they college wish to admit or attract. For instance, when students are admitted using marginal applicant pool, there may be additional minority students and much more with exceptional academic characteristic rather the SAT results.

The SAT has been the reason why many students from minority group continue to be demeaned or hurt. Moreover, the institutions will benefit in that there will be an increase in applications as they appear to be more selective because they have to select the same number of learners from a bigger applicant pool. Many magazines, admission counselors, and students use acceptance rate to measure the academic quality offered in an institution. Many media groups continue to believe that SAT is the dominant indicator of the quality of an institution. The SAT score gives the elite institutions the ascriptive power to divide the students who should enter their college and those who will not. In case, the SAT is eliminated the number of minority students will increase as shown in the table below:

2000 2001 % increase

White 1134 1202 6

Hispanic 86 131 52.3

Asian 223 275 23.3

Black 126 208 65

International 532 549 3.2

Native American 8 19 137.5

Total 2109 2384 7.4

SAT tends to show class and race biases as nationally learners from low income families and minority students tend to score low score compared to their counterparts. The SAT judges individuals by the company they keep. The performance of the student is significantly influenced by the family environment as well as the kind of formal education. Selection of the course in high school is greatly correlated with SAT mathematics and verbal scores. In case a student dropped one of the requirements for SAT it would mean no admission in college for that person. This means that the potential minority students are turned into have-not in college admission line at the age of 18 years. Many students from minority groups perform poorly in their SAT. Colleges have no data that shows the income of the family where the student comes from hence it should not be used to avoid biases (Adelman).

The second benefit of using an optional SAT is that institutions will be able to increase their average SAT. Some individuals criticize the usage of optional SAT score terming it a scam because the school can raise the average reported SAT scores making the institution to appear to be more selective and of higher quality. Schools are making the SAT optional to bolster their position as well as influential their rankings in reports such as World Report rankings of colleges. If the SAT is declared that it is no longer compulsory, some institutions which used to rank on top will stop giving their reports while others low institutions will start ranking their scores as the top. Moreover, stopping or making the test an optional will give some college an advantage to gain publicity. The first institution to make SAT optional will receive a lot of attentions from the media as the SAT has been criticized for quite an extended period now. The decision will enable the institution to increase awareness, but the reputations will be either positive or negative depending on the views of the public as well the opinions of the journalists (Wilgoren).

In many institutions, they have started offering ACT instead of SAT, and it is predicted that in the future most of the institutions will be offering ACT and not SAT. Many disadvantages are associated with SAT hence it should be eliminated the college admission process. The students who take the exam lacks options for test preparation because the current SAT suffers numerous competitive disadvantages. This is because a new test requires completely new materials such as new books and new practice tests. The test sometimes appears to be similar to those released series of samples, but the SAT itself is entirely different from the released paper for practice. In most cases, these materials do not help the students with the materials they require to perform in the test. The colleges fear giving the students the same examination that has been circulating in public will tarnish their reputations. The tests are not fully vetted to be administered to the students because it would take months for the right strategies of administering the test to be laid by less experienced and dedicated instructors (Wilgoren).

The students can start taking other alternatives such as ACT because they take relatively little time to get a result. The students are forced to wait for three weeks to acquire their outcomes, and in some cases, the delay may occur. The test gives the learners an opportunity to retake after two months, and this means the process is demanding regarding both resources and time. It is easier to figure out what the results of the student are telling about them when using ACT because they have a clear idea of what ACT represents than SAT (Adelman).

Due to the drawbacks that are present when using SAT alone when education institutions should consider using another method when evaluating a student for admission in a college. In case an organization is still using SAT, it should not be used alone to determine whether the student will be rejected or admitted. Numerous test scores such as curriculum rigor, high school grades, writing a sample, and an interview should be applied as one complete component. Course rigor and writing a sample can carry more weight than what they students scores in the test. The SAT should be used as a standard the institutions should use when making a decision about the applicants. It should not be used for standardization or be used as an easy eliminator in the process of school application. This means that admission of the students should be primarily be based the achievement and aptitudes of the students and not the low or high scores attained in the SAT.

Work cited

Wilgoren, Jodi. "Mount Holyoke Drops SAT Requirement." New York Times, vol. 149, no. 51412, 07 June 2000, p. A28. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3232763&site=ehost-live.

Ruenzel, David. "The SAT and The Assault On Literature." Phi Delta Kappan 86.3 (2004): 247-248. Web. 18 May 2017.

Adelman, Clifford. "Why Can't We Stop Talking about the SAT?." Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 46, no. 11, 05 Nov. 1999, p. B4. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=2476250&site=ehost-live.

Robinson, Michael, and James Monks. "Making SAT Scores Optional In Selective College Admissions: A Case Study." Economics of Education Review 24.4 (2005): 393-405. Web. 18 May 2017