SAT scores and ACT scores do not necessarily reveal a lot about getting into college and how successful you will be in college– at least that’s what more and more colleges are saying.

In fact many colleges, particularly liberal arts ones, including Bates College and Sarah Lawrence College have made the SAT test optional.

In fact, there are about 730 colleges that have dropped or de-emphasized the ACT and SAT scores, arguing that these tests don’t accurately measure a student’s intelligence and add unecessary stress to your high school years.

Colleges are looking for a more well-rounded person and don’t think that a human being can be measured by the sum of their test scores.

Also, the SAT test has come under fire as biased and unfair. Colleges and organizations like FAIR Test, the anti-standardized testing organization, say that it privileges students who come from higher socio-economic backgrounds. A famous example of alleged bias in the SAT is the ‘oarsman-regatta’ analogy question.  The object of the question was to find the pair of terms that have the relationship most similar to the relationship between “runner” and “marathon”. The correct answer was “oarsman” and “regatta”. The question relied upon students knowing the meaning of the two terms, referring to a sport popular with the wealthy. 53% of white students correctly answered the question, and 22% of black students did. Analogy questions have since been replaced by short reading passages. Gaps in scoring between black students and white students persist.

It seems that challenges to the standardized tests is part of a larger trend happening in education in our nation: to increase diversity and to make a college education available for everyone. We see the same thing happening in Ivy League univerities like Harvard and Princeton who are waving tuition fees for low-income students.

These trends are good news for you!  But you don’t want to just apply to these colleges just to get out of the test. You are after all signing up for at least 2 more years of school and a bunch more test taking.

So in the meantime, check with the college’s page on CampusCompare to see what test they prefer and if they accept both, it’s all about figuring out which style of test you are more comfortable with by reading the SAT and ACT posts.

Liberal Arts schools in which the Sat test is optional:
Bates College,  Sarah Lawrence College, Bard College, Bennington College, College of the Holy Cross, Connecticut College, Denison University, Drew University, Franklin & Marshall College, Goucher College, Gustavus Adolphus College, Hampshire College, Hamilton College, Knox College, Lake Forest College, Mount Holyoke College, Pitzer College, St. Lawrence University and Wheaton College (Massachussetts)

POSTED BY Reisa Resource IN SAT and ACT

04.25.08

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