We all know about the SATs and their importance. All the practice tests and ways to help with SATS are given to us as resources to help us on the SATS because these tests have so much importance and segue our life into college and a successful career. But what about the people who do not want to go to college? Or the people who did not score well on the SATs? A test score cannot define us as people, but why does it feel like it does when we take them? That begs the question: If SATS are important, why are there so many people that have talents that are not highlighted by the test, and what about the people who struggle with taking tests but succeed in academics?
For a long time, there was pressure to do well on the SATS to get into a good college. So, what happens if you do not score well? There are options, like taking it until you get the score you want or considering a different college to fit your score. But what about the people who do not want to go to college? Many other career paths without college make the same or more money than those who have attended college. Given that, is a score on a test going to have that much impact on your life?
Senior Angela Rojas stated, “Yes and no because it shows what you know and what you need to work on, and no because some colleges depend on your SATS if you get in but the low scores could be you forget math because you haven’t done it in a year, but that doesn’t mean anything or that you’re less because of your score, You still have room to grow, but I don’t think SATS should be that important.
Junior Noemi Lou stated, “I think the SATS are not as important as they used to be because most colleges don’t even look at your SAT score”
“The SAT can be used as a valuable mark of achievement based on a student’s goals. The problem is we use it as a universal mark of achievement where we need to have more individualized options for our students,” said Alexa Green, a teacher at Doherty. Colleges started to notice this trend, and they noticed that an exceptional student might not score well on the SAT, not because the student does not have talents, but because they might not be good test takers.
The solution? Colleges started to look at more things like extracurricular activities and transcripts to determine if the student was fit for that college. Then the pressure to get a high SAT score was lowered and it shifted more toward how well you did and your classes and what extracurricular activities you did. Then over the years colleges slowly started to look at how well you did on the SAT. But why the change?
Green explained, “This is twofold in my opinion. First, some of the more prestigious universities may be looking for some way to bring back a level of exclusivity. Again, this is my opinion, but it is a way to create that environment again. The second part may be because it is a universal way to demonstrate rigor. With varying graduation requirements throughout the country, the SAT is a way to demonstrate that a student has an advanced level of knowledge that would prepare them for college.”
At the end of the day, it is important to try your best on the SATS, but do not stress about it too much because there are many options to achieve what you want with or without a good SAT score.
