Are Standardized Tests Losing Their Merit?

High school students are required to take the ACT and the SAT, and younger students often take state tests to pass onto the next grade.

ACT and SAT scores have played a huge role in getting into college for decades, but some students, parents, and college planners are wondering if these tests are beginning to lose their merit. Some colleges have even dropped their requirements for these test scores in a surprising change.

There are many reasons why this change in opinion has been rippling across the country, reasons that have become more apparent through college admissions scandals, the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in the number of money families and students are willing to spend on standardized test preparation. The ACT and the SAT have been a tried and true tradition of the college application process, but are they already beginning to fade out of the picture?

Financial Changes Impact a Level Playing Field

These days, there are so many different ways to study for the ACT and SAT: books filled with review problems, practice tests, and tutoring sessions. All these things cost money, and there are some people who spend thousands of dollars on preparation throughout their school career.

Oftentimes, the more money a family has, the more prepared they can afford, and the better they are likely to perform on the test. Additionally, registering for the test costs money, and most students nowadays take the ACT or the SAT more than once, getting the chance to increase their score, consequently gaining a better chance of being accepted into college.

Taking standardized tests has almost become more about who has more money to spend on them, and not about who can truly understand the content better. For this reason, colleges have begun to be concerned about fairness and equality.

Retakes are Common

The ACT and SAT are supposed to test what a person knows, but because retakes of these tests are so common now, they are beginning to test how well a person knows how to take the test. If a student is on their fourth or fifth try to get an acceptable score, it begs the question of how well they really know the information, and how much of their good score is just because they are used to the test format, or because they have the money to keep taking the test.

However, even if the retakes don’t go a student’s way, it may not matter, since colleges are loosening up on requirements for the ACT and SAT scores. Not only do many believe that the tests are beginning to lose their merit since they can be retaken so many times, but it also seems unfair that someone may have a bad test day, and cannot afford to retake the test. Many institutions are adopting the belief that one test does not define a student.

Other Things are Becoming More Important

When colleges begin the admission process, they take into account a lot of factors: GPA, extracurricular activities, service hours, awards, and yes, test scores. While test scores were once the big-ticket item on that list, other items and accomplishments of students are beginning to take priority. A lot of emphases is now placed on sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities, and students are encouraged to show their diversity of interests and talents through these.

While a 36 on the ACT is definitely going to catch colleges’ attention and set a student apart from others, a wide variety of other activities could be even better than a test score. Recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the college admissions scandal that involved actress Lori Loughlin and numerous other parents, students, schools, and athletic programs, have also made colleges begin to drift away from the requirements of ACT and SAT scores, and drift towards extracurricular activities.

These standardized tests have been known to stress students and negatively affect mental health, so much so that many people began to cheat to get into college, so faced with the mess that accumulated because of this, some colleges, such as the University of California and the University of Chicago, are opting to be test-optional. This choice also tells students that they are worth more than a test score, and their other achievements are worth just as much, if not more than, the ACT or SAT.

Standardized tests have long played an important role in every stage of students’ education, and the ACT and the SAT are given a special emphasis during the college admissions process. However, many colleges and universities are changing their requirements to be “test-optional” meaning that although they may still take into consideration test scores, they won’t be requiring them. Extra-curricular activities, and concerns about fairness and equality, have made it so that standardized tests have begun to lose their merit.