By Catherine Fung
Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) testing centers throughout California have been shut down since March of 2020 due to the spread of the coronavirus, resulting in the cancellation of 183,000 tests in September and 154,000 tests in October for California, the College Board website said.
According to their website, the College Board has decided to allow local schools and test centers to make individual decisions regarding SAT administration, but schools and test centers that decide to administer the test must follow local public health guidelines and adhere to the College Board requirements, including mask-wearing and social distancing protocols.
“Testing staff will administer a short survey before letting students into a test center to determine if a student should be sent home due to sickness,” the College Board wrote. “Testing staff will administer this survey verbally to all students, and deny entry to any student who doesn’t confirm all the statements … or refuses to answer them.”
Many MHS students have been impacted by the SAT center closures. The sudden closing of SAT testing centers was a source of stress because the rescheduled dates were not the best, junior Ellie Bi said in a Zoom interview. It could have been taken earlier; it is stressful to take it at a later date especially without as much preparation, Bi added.
For Fall 2021 first-year applicants to the University of California (UC) system, UC admission policies have changed regarding standardized testing. According to the University of California’s website, in May the University of California Board of Regents unanimously approved to suspend standardized test requirements for all freshmen applicants.
“UC will not consider SAT or ACT test scores when making admissions decisions [for fall of 2021]. [UCs will be] test optional for fall of 2022, test blind for fall of 2023 and fall of 2024,” University of California wrote. “By 2025, any use of the ACT/SAT would be eliminated for California students and a new UC-endorsed test to measure UC-readiness would be required.”
According to the College Board, SAT testing centers had planned to open again in November, and the SAT was scheduled to take place on Nov. 7 as initially planned. In order to combat the risks of students potentially getting coronavirus, the College Board has decided to expand their testing opportunities by encouraging schools to administer SAT School Day, which offers juniors and seniors a weekday to take the SAT at school, expanding access to a standardized test that is globally recognized, the College Board said.
The SAT is not a good predictor of college success, Senior Tejas Balebail, who took the SAT in Oct. 2019, said in a Zoom interview. It is a highly inaccurate way of predicting college success as there are prep centers that only wealthy people can afford, whereas low-income families can only afford a prep book and are left to study on their own with very limited resources, Balebail added. Standardized test questions measure nothing about a person’s intelligence or how qualified an applicant is, Balebail said.
“It makes sense that UCs are going test-optional for the 2021 school year as many students didn’t get a chance to take their tests because of the closure of test centers,” Balebail said. “I don’t see the point [of taking standardized tests] if you are applying to public colleges like UCs since they are going test-blind. If you are applying to private colleges, it makes more sense, but I also don’t think it’s right for private colleges to look at the SAT scores when so many applicants weren’t able to take the exam safely.”
UCs going test blind for the 2023 school year is unfair because other grade levels were extremely dependent on the standardized testing, Sophomore Katie Wang said in a Zoom interview. It is not fair that standardized test scores are not required for the class of 2023, Wang said. It is better to have standardized testing because the other years had it, and it would be better to just continue it like that, Wang added.
“I might apply to private schools, out of state universities and UCs,” Wang said. “I feel like your grades should be the most important when predicting college success. Standardized testing should still be important for colleges to look at but not as important as your grades,” Wang added.
“I am a person with a lot of extracurriculars and side talents that I do during my free time. I think those kinds of things are more important for colleges to look at,” Junior Kevin Nguyen said in a Zoom interview. “This year I am the Vice President of the DnD club, and next year I’m going to try to become an officer in the Math Club. I think those things are more important than the SAT,” Nguyen added.
Having an abundance of extracurriculars are a much better way to display one’s strengths, and he believes those things are more important for colleges to look at, Nguyen said. He plans on becoming a core officer for MHS Math Club and is currently a second degree black belt in taekwondo, a life scout and the vice president of Dungeons and Dragons club at MHS, Nguyen said.
“[UCs going test optional] influences my decision on taking the SAT because generally, you want to take the SAT to improve your reputation for the colleges,” Nguyen said. “They see, ‘Oh this person has a really good SAT score, so I would want to accept them.’ In my case, my strong suit is not the SAT so that would mean that the fact that they won’t be looking at it shouldn’t want to make me change my decision because I’m going to be taking the SAT anyways.”
It is a good choice for colleges to go test-optional since most students do not have the opportunity to take the SAT due to the pandemic, Bi said. It is beneficial for people who do not have the means to find different test centers and also for those who do not have the opportunity to travel to different areas where testing centers are open, Bi said. Additionally, students feel less pressure to take the SAT and ACT during this time, which is important as there are many underlying factors on why students are choosing not to take standardized tests and why other areas are not offering the test, Bi added.
