Should SATs matter?

[3nkayla]

The SAT should be considered, but shouldn't be one of the main sources to look at for students to get into college. The test score should be viewed merely as an exam taken, to see how people test. People only receive the scores they do because they take a class in order to learn all of the material, which means the test is equal to a test taken in school after learning all of the material. Why should this specific exam count more than any of the other ones students take in school? Everybody has those tests where they do awfully on, and it would be unfortunate if the SAT is one of those. If this is the case, everything that students work for inclusive of school grades, recommendations, and extracurriculars are overlooked and go to waste. The SAT doesn't even test knowledge, but tests the application of starategies, which are two very different things. The SAT just gives a student another reason to stress in addition to take time away from other things and just shouldn't hold so much importance.

[6gzelda]

I understand the point of SAT and that they are meant to help colleges get a quick look at a student overall. I see how this could be helpful and how grades might not show them everything they want to see. Because of this I do see why colleges require SAT and why it is important in the application process. That being said, I definetely do not think they should be weighted as heavily as they are. I think grades and interviews and portfolios should be much more important to the schools. SAT is only measuring your overall range of knowledge. However, it is barely even doing that. The SAT is very difficult because everyone has their strengths and weakness and the curriculum for the SAT may reflect their strengths more than their weaknesses. Every person tests differently and this one test should not affect the rest of their life, which is how many people see it now. The SAT should not be considered as heavily as it is now and it should not put so much pressure on the student to do well or to be so competitive about it with other students.

[6ckenatea]

    In today’s society, everyone puts so much emphasis on acing the SAT in order to get into a good college. I know students start studying for it as early as middle school, and as a result, they miss out on weekend parties, playdates, and just one’s childhood in general. I believe that the SATs should not be such a significant part of whether or not a student is intelligent enough to get into an Ivy League or a liberal arts college. It is a very vacuous test; for, the people who are writing the test, only want to trick the students with answers that are very similar, but differ in one little way. When I think about it, it is very shocking that all Ivy League colleges prioritize one’s SAT scores and put so much weight on the score that one receives, instead of giving the same amount of attention to one’s high school GPA, and who they are as a person. Studying for the SATs and the ACTs as well, also cause students to experience so much pressure as to whether or not their score will be good enough to give them the wanted attention that they oh so deserve from their dream college. Especially since we are in a school such as Laguardia, the college admissions directors should take into consideration that we put so much work into our art, such as hours and hours of practice every day into performing, acting, and drawing, that they cannot expect us to do brilliantly on the SATs. Even though the SAT test has been just a ritual in the generations of students applying to college, I believe that it does not test the intelligence of one student and what he/she is capable of accomplishing.

[6cmaya]

The SAT and ACT should not be used to determine a person's intelligence or capability. A person should be judged on who they are overall and not just one test. The SAT and ACT are set up of a series of topics and concepts that are mainly not even taught to us in school. A major problem , the bigger picture is how standardize test are becoming too heavy weighted in our modern day education system. A student fails one test, in a science or math class and often risk failing the whole class total because of how heavy they are weighted. Students when applying for college should be seen and scanned on a more personal level, not just as number. A person's community service work I feel should be valued too a lot more than it is. Also more schools should incorporate internships. Grades should matter since many of us but in a lot of work to keep them but they should never determine a person's intelligence.

[3pisabella]

SAT's are the most inaccurate way of judging how smart a student really is. The test doesn't take in account nights students have spent studying or the numerous AP's a student has challenged themselves with during their high school career. By judging students primarily based on these test scores colleges are missing out on the students who have tried so hard for four years to get into college. The SAT's make everything else we have achieved in high school seem pointless. If the most important part of our college application is our SAT scores, why do we even study or learn anything else? It is sad that the college board is putting this ideology in students heads. They are taking out the interest in learning which I feel was supposed to be the point of school. In schools in we as students deserve to be looked at as more than just a number.
Finland's education system is treated less severely than the U.S and yet they have a better education system than us. In Finland, they don't use standardized testing at all, they give hardly to no homework each night, and have 10-15 minute breaks between classes. Teachers are even sent to special schools in where they learn to be engaging and encouraging. We should take some of these aspects of Finnish education into America not only do they provide a student a stress-free learning environment, but they give students a chance to enjoy and appreciate learning, where as the SAT does the opposite.
For more information about the Finnish education system heres a link: www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?page=2

[10slena]

I think that it is absolutely ridiculous how much the SAT's - a single test - have an impact on people's lives. In modern society, one would think that we would be able to see that tests don't measure intelligence, or worthiness to get into a college, they just measure how good someone is at taking a test. The SAT's exclude those who have issues taking tests - due to things such as anxiety, or any other reason. The fact that a student's entire academic career can be overlooked because of one bad test grade is just beyond insane. If anyone were to stop and think about it, they would very quickly see how standardized testing is not, in any way, standardized. And while I do recognize why the SAT's were created, and how they can help in college admissions, I do not think they should be as highly weighted as they are. The truth of the matter is that the SAT's aid only a very small part of the student population, for the rest of them it is nothing but stress, tears, and can very literally ruin their lives. It scares me so much that I could not be accepted into my top college because of this one 3-hour test, after 4 years of pushing myself to get As in every class. It also scares me how despite the ongoing argument against the SATs, nothing has changed. I think it really says something about how little our education system has progressed when we are taking the same exact test as our parents and grandparents did. The fact that we haven't changed this system for so long makes me doubtful that it will change anytime soon, but perhaps if we continue to speak out, we can make a change for good.

[6bmatthew]

The most important part of the SAT is that it is a standard. The most common misconception regarding the SAT is that it tests intelligence. It really tests how well one is able to adapt to an unconventional environment. The standardization part comes in when everyone has to conform to the same environment. This is an accurate, yet not completely perfect, way to evaluate every student. Many of the people on this thread have complained that, when applying to college, their grades are made irrelevant due to the SAT. This is a required part of the admissions process, as no school is the same. AP US History at a school in the deep rural south will not be as rigorous as the same class at Stuyvesant. Therefore, one's grades can only say so much. The SAT allows for a different playing field that is largely independent of one's education system. The reason the test has so many tricks and quirks is because it tests how well a student can pick up on these characteristics and exploit them, rather than how well one can memorize a^2+b^2=c^2. As a result, it tests how well one can operate in a standard environment.

Many complain that the test favors the rich by rewarding those that can pay for prep courses. One could argue that the whole education system favors the rich (spoiler alert: it does). If a student is educated in a school district that is impoverished, he or she will not do as well as a student who has been educated in the very best private schools. This is obvious and not really debatable. The SAT is simply a different system that is vulnerable to the same systemic problem. One could argue that because the SAT is a standardized test, it should not discriminate based on wealth. However, is it really possible to take wealth out of the process? It permeates every other aspect of American life. What really needs to change is the American culture of wealth, comrade (see what happens).

[3kfatime]

The SAT stands for "scholastic aptitude test", but excuse my crudeness but in my opinion its stands for Stupid As* Test, because in reality it measures not one's intelligence, nor how hard one studied, it measures how much money parents spent on SAT sponsored preparatory classes and how well the student has adapted to the format of the test, its structure far different from the tests students had been receiving for the past 10 years of school. The main goal of the SAT is to make money, and sure enough it does. A smart, hardworking student with a good GPA could have their college future ruined if they cannot step up to the demands of the SAT. The strict timing is also an issue, as I've learned from firsthand experience.Students spend years learning various subjects, everyones strengths and weaknesses varying. The SAT remains ignorant to that fact and tests three slim subjects under timed conditions with the daunting weight of "this exam will determine my college future" weighing down on each student! So who benefits? The SAT, of course.The harder the exam, the more times students will take it, paying an arm and a leg each time.

[Fanny]

You expressed it fantastically!
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