The moment had finally come. That moment all Uppers and some Seniors anticipate with dread for months. The moment that people told me would determine so much about my future. My SAT scores were online.
I didn’t hesitate to look—I’ve taken a laid back attitude toward the college process and had decided that no matter what I’d be happy. But as I glanced at my score and analyzed where I stood on the spectrum, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of pride.
And then I was overwhelmed by disgust. I hated the SATs. I hated the standardized test system. When my parents commended my score I even told them (respectfully) that they shouldn’t reinforce its values. To put it simply, I hated that I fell for the SAT trap.
The SATs do a few things, all of which I find fundamentally wrong. They make a huge profit from families’ stress and societal pressure. They favor the rich. They foster a sense of entitlement and academic elitism. Worst of all, they instill values in our society that undermine the intellectual and creative worth of every student.
Everyone knows that the College Board and ACT make boatloads of money, reaping profits from nearly every student that applies to college (a number which increases every year). Not to mention that they and other companies have turned standardized testing into an educational industry that offers a plethora of expensive books and courses, which brings me to the topic of socioeconomic status.
The rich do better on these tests not, as I once believed, because of the ability to “buy” their way to success. Numerous studies show that courses and books have no significant effect on scores. Students that respond well to these unfortunate byproducts of the problem would work hard to do well no matter what. What I am about to say is a giant generalization: The rich do better because they are raised in an environment where intellectual ambition and ability is valued, and where it looks good to do well. This means going to schools that teach better basic math and English skills. This means being raised in an English speaking home. This means having the time and support to foster academic skills. Get where I’m going?
Charles Murray has said that the SAT score has become “a badge flaunted by those on top.” What he means is that getting a high SAT score has increasingly meant thinking you’re smarter (or thinking you deserve to get into that elite college). It’s like saying, “Na na na na na na, I can do a basic algebraic equation and process the tone of an expert in 20 seconds better than you!” It’s exactly the trap I fell into that so disgusted me. I felt smart. I felt elite. I felt deserving. It’s an unhealthy feeling that doesn’t promote actual learning or achievement.
Which is what really gets to me. What values do these tests teach us? Yes, basic English and math skills are important things to have going into college and the real world. And yes, not all schools are academically equal. Maybe these kinds of checks are needed for these situations, but they need reform. They have to be fair, and they can’t be such a huge part of the admissions criteria. Some students just aren’t good at taking this type of test. Some don’t do well in a timed situation. Some learn and respond kinesthetically or visually. Some are just plain creative. The SAT is designed to favor one type of thinking.
Let’s take the reading comprehension section, for example. It asks subjective questions in an objective format. Literature and poetry by definition are subjective writing. It isn’t possible to have every single student agree on the tone of a passage or a plausible metaphor because there isn’t one tone or metaphor. If a student thinks differently based on background, experience or imagination, he or she gets penalized. I once had a teacher tell me she finally did well on a standardized test (in graduate school, mind you) when she stopped overthinking answers and finally picked the most obvious ones. Coincidentally, she’s one of the smartest , most insightful and hard working people I’ve ever met.
Couldn’t the challenge of courses taken, grades, introspective reflections, personal teacher recommendations and examples of creative work that actually show real thoughts give a better, more fair view of how a student functions in a classroom and as a human being? Shouldn’t those be the main criteria of college admissions rather than an unfair, dehumanizing test?
What if all the students taking SAT courses and studying for the test instead went out and met someone new, learned about current events, volunteered at a homeless shelter or just read an actual book? Wouldn’t those be the meaningful and thought provoking experiences that prepare students for college and life? Wouldn’t they teach people to question and search for understanding? Either way, they’re what I’d rather be having.
Elizabeth Goldsmith is a two-year Upper from Watertown, MA.