Karly Gregorio, Staff Writer
Many juniors and seniors will be taking the SAT this upcoming October. Some for the first time, others for the fifth. Either way, it is a dreaded topic. This is a 4 hour test that is meant to test your “ability for success in college” so that colleges can easily set students apart. The test includes ten different sections of math, critical reading and writing, including an essay you have to prepare and write in twenty five minutes.
Students say that these time restraints prevent them from completing the test to the best of their ability. “I know I could have done better if I was not stopped during several of the sections, especially the essay. If I had a reasonable amount of time I would have been able to finish and probably received a higher score,” NHS senior Kevin Droniak said.
The College Board found that scores really did increase with extra time, “I have also worked with students who ultimately received accommodation and increased 350 points, dramatically impacting their academic futures. I know first-hand the impact extended timing can make,” Jed Applerouth founder of the Applerouth tutoring center said. Showing that the SAT can do more at hindering how well you do rather than prove it.
The SAT’s main purpose is to test how successful you will be in college.
“I do not think the SAT has any correlation on how I will perform in college. My grade point average shows more of my college readiness than my SAT scores because it shows that I may have a difficulty in a subject, but I still try hard.” Droniak said.
There are many other factors that the SAT does not test for, such as the student’s effort and persistence.
"The SAT test has been found to measure only about 18% of the things that it takes to do well in school, and not a very good predictor of how a student will do in college. The SAT is not going to get you very far with predicting who's going to do well in college," psychologist Claude Steele Said.
Many students say that the SAT had math questions and vocabulary words that they had never come across in school. “I was not taught half of the concepts on the SAT, or at least how to get past all the tricky wording," Droniak said.
The SAT is known to trick and confuse you, making it nearly impossible to get a perfect score. This is why if you want to do extremely or even moderately well most students need to get a tutor.
Tutors range anywhere from 120-300 dollars an hour. These outrageous tutoring prices alone show that, to do well on this test, it is not going to take a few bucks to get a grasp on all the concepts. You will have to spend thousands to fully understand all the material.
"I find the SAT very unfair because you can pay your way through it by getting tutors. Its claim to fame is that it is a level playing field but if you have the money, you can pay for tutoring and have an advantage over other kids. I received tutoring and I do not believe I would have gotten the score I got without it. Tutoring is essential," NHS senior Alexa Summerlin said.
Saying a student getting tutored is unfair is not correct. Many students believe getting tutored is fair because they are putting extra effort into doing well, so they deserve the score they receive. What other students believe not to be fair is that the College Board will never be able to set apart the student who was tutored from the student who was unable to afford tutoring, but had the same potential. Giving an unfortunate disadvantage to many students.
There are students out there who naturally do well on the SAT’s, which is great for them! Although, for the most part it is a struggle for many students, and nobody should feel less about themselves because of a test that, overall statistically, does not seem to show a fair assessment of what students are truly capable.
Photo Credit; thepiper.k12