This year, the College Board has reduced the number of SAT testing sites to maintain safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the Aug. 29 SAT, only 54% of the usual number of testing centers were open nationwide.
In response to limited testing availability, the majority of four-year colleges and universities nationwide have waived standardized examination requirements. Additionally, more than 400 colleges have agreed to a statement issued by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which affirms that students will not be penalized if they do not submit test scores.
Senior Albena Goulisheva thinks test-optional policies benefit all students, regardless of whether or not they decide to submit their scores.
“I feel like when they made it optional, it accommodated those who weren’t able to take it and also those who were because people who studied very hard paid all of this money to get it done and did really well,” Goulisheva said. “It would be really disappointing to not submit their scores and get recognized for their hard work.”
Although many colleges have implemented test-optional policies, some students still feel pressured to take the SAT.
We’ve been notified [by the College Board] that SATs would be cancelled [only] 12 hours before, and it was disappointing because we spent a lot of time studying,” said senior Ryan Chan. “Even though a lot of colleges have said that it’s optional, there are schools that have explicitly stated that they’d still like test scores if you have them, so I think lots of seniors [feel] pressured and [are] thinking that will help their chances more. We just scheduled for a later date not knowing when the next was going to be.”
To address student concerns, the SMUHSD provided a districtwide survey for seniors to gauge their interest in districtwide test administration. Approximately 350 students requested an additional testing opportunity. As a result, the district organized test administration on school campuses for Oct. 14 and 28.
Director of Curriculum and Assessment Brian Simmons explains what brought the district to administer this test.
“We were getting inquiries from families whose tests kept getting cancelled by the College Board,” Simmons said. “[They] asked if it’s possible for the district to organize an internal date because time was evaporating for seniors. We also felt sympathetic to the fact that all seniors didn’t have grades in the spring and [there were] stories of students going to other states and staying overnight in hotel rooms to take the SAT.”
Although colleges made standardized testing optional due to COVID-19, Ho thinks that this system may fade away permanently.
“There have been decades of focus on GPA and test scores,” Ho said. “Just one year is really difficult to undo this thinking that [they] are the end-all be-all for you to get into college. Prior to COVID-19, there were a lot of conversations and many more colleges jumping on the same idea that students could showcase their strengths beyond [standardized testing]. COVID-19 has expedited that conversation, and it has opened up colleges to take that step forward and make good changes for students [applying].”
College and Career Adviser Laurie Tezak agrees with Ho’s sentiment.
“I think we were seeing optional testing coming,” Tezak said. “There are a number of schools that have been saying for the last two years that students should submit the test if they took it but in all honesty, they want to see their grades and classes as well as what they’ve been doing in and out of their community. I think that it was starting to come, but COVID [-19] pushed it over the edge. Several years down, we were going to see this, and the UC’s are looking at creating their own testing.”
