There are some lucky students out there who attend one of the 750 colleges that are not requiring students to take the SATs.
Does anyone remember the horror, blood, sweat and tears of the SATs?
The hours of studying, the days, weeks, and months of pressure from your parents, teachers and Type-A friends. For anyone who doesn’t know Type-A, they are the people who study over the weekend for hours at a time and have a heart attack because their friends aren’t preparing for their 15-minute quiz the next week.
Kudos to all the juniors and seniors in high school who don’t ever need to know the terror of the SAT exam; you have no idea how lucky you are.
At the same time, understand my stab of envy that none of my schools were seriously considering not using the SATs as a guideline and requirement to apply.
In theory, the SATs test the intelligence of students. Realistically, it shows how well someone can take a test.
The SATs are a waste of money and time. Futhermore, these tests are just another source of anxiety and doubt, where even the smartest students fret and cry over the upcoming battle of the brains.
It was said that the SATs were not a fair playing ground because the statistics showed that students of a higher socio-economic status were more likely to do better on the SATs.
I’m surprised it took so long to piece that together. If you have two students with average intelligence, one with a higher socio-economic status and one with a lower one, guess which one is going to be able to pay for the Princeton Review classes ranging from $1,000 to $15,000?
Even the SAT prep books are a lot of money. All of this, in addition to the cost of the actual test (which adds up if you take it multiple times), is for an exam that doesn’t even accurately test your intelligence.
The colleges not requiring the SATs have the right idea. A combination of academic grades, recommendations, interviews and essays are what show true student abilities and potential. The SATs show nothing constructive to show the actual capabilities of the student.
I remember the day that I took the SATs for the first time. It was at 8 a.m. in March of 2005. What I didn’t know is that the March SATs had the most difficult score curve out of all the examination dates of the year. The test was four fours, one 15 minute break and countless sections on math, reading and writing. Some people fell asleep during their test, some threw up, and many cried. By the time I got out, I had a migraine and still had to take the train home.
Although Fairfield has no intention of joining the 750 schools, to the students who are applying to those schools: you guys are lucky…people.
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