Section 3, Question 2: Does standardized testing prepare you for college?

Alumnus Jackie Gu walked onto Brown University’s campus for the first time during orientation on the first week of September, meeting new people from different high school backgrounds — and with different SAT scores.

Despite these differences, they all share a united passion for learning, their SAT scores simply remnants of the past as they move on to a new chapter in their life.

“The range of scores it took to get here is pretty astounding, but what's more astounding is that you really can't tell,” Gu said. “There are people here with 2100s and people here with 2400s, and the difference between the two in terms of passion, intelligence, drive, is virtually nonexistent.”

The SAT has long been one of the most reviled rites of passages for college-bound students — so reviled that some have chosen to take the ACT, an alternative standardized test, simply to avoid it. The question for the SAT, a major factor in college admissions, is whether or not it actually prepares prospective students for college. 

A flawed Test

Gu, who was editor-in-chief of the Falcon last year, believes that standardized testing is not an accurate predictor of college success.

“I don't feel that the SAT has prepared me for college classes,” Gu said. “I don't think it's an accurate gauge of anything except how well you can memorize test-taking strategies.”

The College Board, the company that makes the SAT, recently released a report on college readiness that showed that only 43 percent of SAT takers met the SAT College Readiness Benchmark score of 1550. This benchmark score indicates a 65 percent likelihood of receiving a B- average or higher during the first year of a four-year college.

The report said that success on the SAT is “closely related to the type and rigor of coursework students pursue in high school. Each section of the SAT is valid and reliable as an individual measure of the skills … that students need for success in college.”

However, some students who have taken the SAT dispute this claim. Rather, students said, the real reason only a small percentage of test takers seem ready for college is that the test itself is flawed.

“If anything, I feel that some aspects of the test can be detrimental to your development as a student,” Gu said. “For instance, the essay teaches you to write very rigidly. I have no experience with this thus far, but I'm fairly certain that college professors aren't a fan of stiff, formulaic writing.”

English teacher Suzanne Herzman, who has taught SAT classes in the past at University Test Prep, said that the structure of the SAT essay contradicts the analysis-based essays students learn to write in high school.

“The SAT essay forces students to start with a hasty viewpoint and then find and force evidence to support that thesis,” Herzman said. “At SHS, we teach students to start with the evidence and construct a thesis after thinking carefully about the problem. How ironic that the SAT prompts begin with the instructions ‘Think carefully …’"

In addition to the consequences SAT writing can have on one’s education, alumnus Sujay Khandekar, now a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, said succumbing to the paranoia of studying for standardized tests only worsens a student’s college preparedness.

“A lot of the college courses require you to be disciplined, organized and alert,” Khandekar said. “Absorbing the new information gained from college courses is [very] different than reviewing the same concepts over and over again for the SAT.”

As a current senior, Mandy Lee added that she feels misrepresented by the SAT, especially due to the inordinate length of the test.

“I don't understand how sitting through a test proves whether or not you will succeed in college,” Lee said. “How does a college know what kind of person you are, how motivated you are, your work ethic, etc. from a score on a standardized test?” 

Rise of the ACT

ACT Inc., College Board’s competitor, also released a similar report, indicating that only 69 percent of students met at least one of the ACT College Readiness benchmarks. This benchmark score indicates a 50 percent chance of obtaining a B or higher in first year credit-bearing courses. 

Some students said that the ACT yielded better results in terms of college-readiness because of its more logical questions.

“The ACT is more accurate at showing one's true capabilities,” senior Cameron Borch said, “but I believe they both are an insignificant way to show a student's full character and academic potential.”

This sentiment may have influenced the trend of more and more students taking the ACT over the SAT. In fact, for the first time, the ACT surpassed the SAT in the number of test takers nationwide last year.

In fact, Rakhi Israni, president of Excel Test prep, said that enrollment at Excel has increased, as more and more students in Saratoga seem to be taking both the SAT and the ACT.

“In areas like Cupertino and Saratoga, where the students are highly competitive and very driven, the percentage of students taking both exams is increasing at a much higher rate than in other areas,” Israni said.

Despite complaints about the test’s flaws, Israni said standardized testing is a fact of life that can actually be helpful in admissions decisions.

“The holy grail of college admissions is predicting college success of admitted candidates,” Israni said. “Studies have shown there is some correlation between SAT scores and college success. So, the SAT has some predictive value for college admissions.”

Herzman added that although the competition for scores can be unhealthy, the SAT does partly test the knowledge students acquire in school.

“To some extent, they test skills that students have been learning in school for years: understanding vocabulary in context and some grammar fundamentals,” Herzman said. “Students who are lifetime readers tend to score well on the critical reading section, and students who do a lot of writing and revising (and reading) tend to score well on the writing section.”

Competition for scores

Regardless of the test’s flaws and advantages, more and more students at Saratoga have followed the trend of spending exuberant costs and countless hours on prep courses, Israni confirmed. In fact, according to Eduventures Inc., 2 million students spend a total of $2.5 billion every year on test prep and tutoring.

Senior Jennie Werner said that this relationship between family income and SAT scores no longer provides students with an equal opportunity to prove their college readiness.

"Standardized tests no longer offer a level playing field for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds, but have turned into a competition to see who can spend the most money on tutoring or take the most practice tests,” Werner said.

Not only has money tipped the scale of the competition, but Herzman said the value of learning has been lost in this endless race for the best SAT score.

“Imagine the more meaningful ways to spend the time wasted on SAT prep!” she said. “Read something challenging. Try something new. Take a class in something that has always interested you. Or, if it has to be SAT prep, tutor someone who doesn't have access to pricey prep classes.”