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Emily Waldon

Professor Barnes

Online ENG 201

10 April 2019

Eliminate Standardized Tests on College Applications

On a saturday testing morning, students wake up to take a four hour test.Students across

America are required to take at least one standardized tests to apply for college. On most college

applications they will accept an ACT score or a SAT score. These tests determine how

competitive a student is in an applicant pool and how much merit a student will receive in

scholarship. This is a test that a ultimately determines what college a student will get into.

Should a test score determine a student's future? Should a four hour test summarize what a

student has accomplished over four years? Should a student have to worry more about a

standardized test than their own school work? College admissions should not use standardized

test scores on applications because it affects students mental health, it does not fully measure

how ready a student is for college, and it does not fairly evaluate a student's learning.

Most colleges require a standardized test to be submitted with a student's application.

Standardized tests usually take place at a school on a Saturday. According to the official ACT

website, the test officially starts around eight o'clock in the morning and lasts until twelve

o'clock in the afternoon. When students arrive, they are required to show a form of identification
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and they are assigned a seat to sit in for the duration of the test.The tests are usually broken into

three or four sections depending on what test you are taking. There is only a fifteen minute break

for the whole duration of the test, where students can eat a snack and use the restroom. In an

article discussing a six step guide for students studying for a standardized test, author Samantha

Lindsay discusses the importance of studying for standardized tests and how much time a student

should prepare for one test. Lindsay says that students should study at least an hour once a week

and at least one hundred and fifty hours of studying if a student wants to boost their score by six

to nine points. After taking the test, students will receive their test score on an online portal in

about three weeks. Most standardized tests cost around fifty dollars and a student can retake the

test up to ten times.

According to the official ACT website, the highest score a student can receive on the test

is a thirty six.The score is the average from the reading, math, science, and english sections.

Once students have received their score, they have to additionally pay for the test scores to be

sent to college admissions. On the common application, submitting a standardized test is needed

to make the application complete. Once sent off to colleges, colleges assess the application and

the test score, determining whether or not that student is a fit for the college. While waiting for

an admission decision, it can stir lots of different emotions in a student before going off to

college.

Mental health issues have affected students all across America. The pressure for a student

to fit in, know what a student wants to do with the rest of their life, and maintaining grades can

be a very overwhelming task. With an increased pressure to achieve better scores and get into
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prestigious colleges, students are risking it all for a test score. In an academic journal about test

anxiety, author Sean Mulvenon discusses the many struggles that students and others who are

involved in the education system are faced with when preparing for a standardized test.Mulvenon

says that students, teachers, and even parents have felt pressure to raise test scores and it has

caused an increase in anxiety and stress in all of those involved. Standardized test scores are a

requirement on most college applications and when stress is put on a student to raise their score,

it puts a large amount pressure on a student to succeed. This can become extremely frustrating

especially when many students are studying over one hundred and fifty hours in hopes of raising

their score substantially. When a student does not meet the college's minimum requirement for a

certain standardized test score, this makes the student feel as if they are good enough, even if

they have a good GPA. Standardized tests limit a student's learning to a number and tear apart a

student's self esteem. The amount of pressure that is centered around a test score is ridiculous

and it creates more stress for a student, on top of completing their school work and completing

other college applications.

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Fig. 1. Standardized tests put pressure on students and destroy healthy learning environments

(¨Death by Testing¨).

Standardized tests put a lot pressure on students that is not needed in a learning

environment. Learning in an environment that is based off of scores and learning ultimately for

a test score, destroys the purpose of learning itself. In Fig.1., The Rimwe Educational Resources

portrays a student with three people behind him. This demonstrates a glimpse of what kind of

pressure is inflicted on students while taking standardized tests and the emphasis educators put

on students to do well on these tests. Standardized tests degrade a student's learning experience

and it teaches students that they can not make mistakes.

The stress and pressure of a standardized test can destroy a safe learning environment and

makes students fear their future before applying for college. In The New York Times, author
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Shapiro and Goldstein discuss the stigma around standardized testing and how some students are

willing to cheat just to get into their competitive college of choice. In this article, Shapiro and

Goldstein raise awareness of the multiple cheating scandals that have taken place and how these

test have become less reliable in the college admissions process. When a student is put under a

large amount of pressure to increase their score, students will do everything in their power to

achieve a perfect score. College admissions have become more aware of the multiple cheating

scandals and they have not changed their requirements.Can test scores really be reliable even if

they are can be tampered with? For some students these tests mean whether a student will get

into their college of choice and for others it means getting a merit based scholarship. Shapiro and

Goldstein mention that some students are willinging to risk cheating to raise their score. Students

are put under such extreme pressure that they feel the need to cheat in order to receive admission

from their college of choice. These tests inflict large amounts of unnecessary pressure and

especially those students who are willing to go to extremes to achieve a certain test score.

Colleges should not accept standardized test scores because they have become an unreliable

pieces of information that have caused students to be under an unhealthy amount of pressure.

As the pressure becomes unbearable and students struggle to cope, stress levels begin to

dangerously increase. Christina Simpson did academic research at Harvard University to find out

the effects of standardized testing on students. Simpson said she found that, ¨Eighty-three

percent of teens surveyed cited school as a source of stress, sixty-nine percent cited, ´getting into

a good college or deciding what to do after high school´, and sixty-five percent cited, ´financial

concerns´ for their family¨.Simpson makes her audience aware in her research of the multiple

factors that can affect students stress levels while applying for colleges. Students not only have
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their own school work but they have to manage the stress of trying to achieve a specific test

score. Like Simpson said, most students worry about the financial concerns of college and some

of students put a lot of pressure on themselves to do well on these standardized tests in order to

make more merit scholarship.The only way students can control those factors is to maintain good

grades and get a good score on a standardized test. Overall, students should not have to worry

about a test score that they have little control over. Student´s mental health is at risk and should

be taken seriously, even if it means eliminating standardized test requirements on college

applications.

In addition to taking standardized tests, students have to maintain good academics. A

student's grade point average is said to be a better indication of whether or not a student will be

successful in college. In a PBS article, Sarah Sheffer brings attention to the fact that students

with high test scores and low grades have less of a success rate in college than students with

good grades and moderate test scores. Sheffer said, ¨According to the data, if high school grades

are not high, good testing does not premise college success¨.Students that have been successful

over a four year period often score lower on standardized tests but show more of success rate

when completing college. It is unfair for colleges to assume that a student will or will not be

successful based off of one test score. A student's grade point average should be more important

than a standardized test score because research has found that it does not fully measure how

capable a student is of being successful in college. Standardized tests have become an unfair way

for colleges to try quickly assess whether a student will succeed in college, but Sheffer proves

that a grade point average is a better indicator for student's success. Standardized testing should
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not be used on college application because it does not predict how successful a student can be in

college.

A student's grade point average is a better way assess a student previous learning and

hard work throughout high school. A students ability to work hard for four years is a better way

to assess a students ability to succeed in a college environment. In The John Hopkins Press, John

Buckley discusses the college admission process and settles some common misunderstandings

that students and parents have when their application is sent away to an admission offices.

Buckley says that college admissions often use standardized test scores to compare other

students with different backgrounds and the system usually favors privileged groups.Buckley

says that when a standardized test score is sent off to admissions, they are put into an applicant

pool to see how students scores compare to one another. This technique often favors privileged

groups and is a biased way to look at a student's application. A student's application is compared

to what the applicant pool looks like and not a student individually. Standardized tests should not

be used on college applications because it does not evaluate a students readiness for college, but

it really assesses if a student is similar to the application pool.

Standardized tests are often assessed while looking at an applicant pool. Often times

students know what material is on the test but are bad test takers. In an article on Odyssey, author

Hannah Franke explains that there are some students who are extremely gifted and intelligent in

the classroom but when they have to take these tests in a high stress environment they struggle.

Franke refers to these students as the ¨bad test takers¨. While in a standardized test setting,

students struggle to thrive in an environment that is unlike their classroom and high in stress.
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Standardized test scores should not be used on college admissions because they do not fully

measure the student's ability to learn, but how well a student is able to test. A standardized test

reflects on a short period of learning unlike a grade point average. Hannah Franke rhetorically

asks her audience in an article on Odyssey, what college admissions should do if a brilliant

student bombed the test. Would colleges start turning away future doctors, engineers, and

lawyers just because of nerves during that specific testing morning?Standardized tests assess the

success of students who are good test takers and they fall short to assess those who struggle

while taking tests.

Sometimes it does not matter if a student is good test taker or not. Standardized tests do

not fully give accurate data to prove a student's learning. Most college admissions look for things

on the test that would suggest social demographics and financial statuses. In HuffPost, Theresa

Hernandez says that there has been lots of research that has shown that standardized tests can

predict demographics and social groups more than these test can predict success in college. Most

of the student's scores do not evaluate a students ability to learn but a student's financial status,

class, and gender. Standardized tests should not be used in the admission process because it does

not measure a students ability to learn but instead determines demographic characteristics that a

student possesses.

Standardized tests do not measure a student's learning but track a students demographics,

social status, and other things like race and gender. According to an academic journal that

describes the role of standardized tests, Linda Wightman says that standardized testing

companies are capable of pulling more relevant information from these tests and they have many
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technologies to help them do so. Wightman explained that testing students this way would help

college admissions but standardized testing companies have not done this because they want to

keep creating money off of students. According to Wightman, these tests are more capable of

measuring more academic information but standardized testing companies have not changed

them because they have created a business off of students. Right now, standardized tests do not

assess what is important, a student's education. Standardized tests are not for a students benefit

and they are not capable of assessing a student's learning in school.Standardized testing

companies have made a business around a student's test score and it has become more about the

money than the students.

However, some may believe that standardized testing is a fair way to equalize every

student's education and wonder what a college would even evaluate without standardized tests.

Standardized testing has become a quick way for college admissions to look at a student's

application and see if that student meets their requirements. In a research paper series about

predicting student's success beyond high school, author Saul Giesser says that , ¨...standardized

tests are seen as methodologically rigorous, providing a...yardstick for assessing student ability

and achievement¨.Standardized tests give colleges a quick way to equalize their applicants and it

put every student to the same standard. Colleges are now looking for unique and well rounded

students. Colleges can not determine if a student is well rounded if they are looking at at their

application in a ¨yardstick¨ manner. Nowadays, students have multiple things that they can add to

their application, information that makes a student unique and reasons for why they should be

accepted into their college of choice. Standardized tests put everyone on the same standard and it
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is a test that equalizes all students, yet standardized tests do not assess what makes a student

unique.

Now, some colleges are now using the test- optional option on their application.The test-

optional route is when students can decide whether or not they want their test score to be sent to

schools. Colleges then evaluate the student's application with or without a standardized test

score. This usually means that students need to write an alternative essay in order to determine

what kind of merit scholarship they will receive. In an article in the HuffPost, Theresa

Hernandez mentioned a study that saw that when student did not have to submit a SAT or ACT

score, there was increased enrollment in minority students and those students had the same pass

success rates in college as those who had to submit standardized test scores. Not only would the

test optional route eliminate the need for standardized tests but it would it would accurately

represent a student's ability to perform once they arrive at college.

The test optional route allows for students to freely express who they are without letting

a number limit them. This option would be on the application and students would still be able to

submit their test score if they wanted to. This option allows students to not have to worry about

their test scores and focus more about completing their college applications. On a college data

website, The National Association for College Admission Counseling said that colleges that are

test-optional consider a student's academic record the most important while evaluating their

application.Instead of assessing an application by relying heavily on a test score, students can

show off how unique that are to college admissions. Colleges can provide this option on their

application and it shows that standardized tests are not needed in the college admission process.
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In conclusion, standardized tests are an unfair to evaluate a student based off of a score

that they received on a Saturday morning. Should a student´s future be determined by one test

score? Should a brilliant student really be turned away a spot at prestigious school because they

are a bad test taker? Students are faced with dangerous amounts of stress and pressure to raise a

test score, a test score that could take over one hundred and fifty hours of studying to prepare for.

Standardized tests are a way for colleges to determine how a student compares to an applicant

pool and it has become a less personal way to evaluate a students application. A four hour test

should not compare to a four year education.Overall, standardized testing harms students mental

health, they do not fully evaluate a students readiness for college, and they do not fully value a

student's learning.

Works Cited

Buckley, Jack, et al. ​4. Merit-Based Scholarships in Student Recruitment and the Role of

Standardized Tests.​ The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018. ​EBSCOhost,​

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d
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b=edspmu&AN=edspmu.MUSE9781421424972.10&site=eds-live​. Accessed 18 March

2019.

Franke, Hannah. “Why Standardized Testing Should Not Be Used As A Measurement Of

Intelligence.” ​The Odyssey Online,​ 27 Aug. 2017,

www.theodysseyonline.com/why-standardized-testing-should-not-be​. Accessed 20 March

2019.

Geiser, Saul. “Validity of High-School Grades in Predicting Student Success beyond the

Freshman Year: High-School Record vs. Standardized Tests as Indicators of Four-Year

College Outcomes. Research & Occasional Paper Series” ​Center for Studies in Higher

Education​, Center for Studies in Higher Education, 1 Jan. 2007. ​EBSCOhost​. Accessed

18 March 2019.

Hernandez, Theresa E. “Opinion | Abolish Standardized Testing For College Admissions.” ​The

Huffington Post,​ TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 May 2018,

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/abolish-standardized-testing-for-college-admissions_us_

5b045869e4b003dc7e470ee3​. Accessed 15 March 2019.

“Home.” ​ACT​, ​www.act.org/​. Accessed 18 March 2019.

Lindsay, Samantha. “Exactly How Long Should You Study for the ACT? A 6-Step Guide.”

blog.prepscholar.com/exactly-how-long-should-you-study-for-the-act-a-6-step-guide.

Accessed 20 March 2019.

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Mulvenon, Sean W.“Test Anxiety: A Multifaceted Study on the Perceptions of Teachers,

Principals, Counselors, Students, and Parents.” ​International Journal of Testing.​

EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=eric&AN=EJ724936&site=eds-live​. Accessed 1 March 2019.

National Association for College Admission Counseling. “What Is a Test Optional

College?”​College

Data​,​www.collegedata.com/en/prepare-and-apply/strengthen-your-chances/psat-sat-act-o

h-my/what-is-a-test-optional-college/​. Accessed 18 March 2019.

Rimwe Educational Resources LLC. “Rimwe Educational Resources .” ​Death by Testing | The

Solver Blog,​ ​www.romwe.com/the-solver-blog/61.html​. Accesseed 20 March 2019.

Simpson, Christina. ​Effects on Standardized Testing on Student´s Well-Being.​ 2016,

projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/eap/files/c._simpson_effects_of_testing_on_well_being_5_1

6.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2019.

Shapiro, Eliza, and Dana Goldstein. “College Cheating Scandal Shows a Standardized Test Isn't

Always a Fair One.” ​The New York Times,​ The New York Times, 14 Mar. 2019,

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March 2019.
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Wightman, Linda F. “The Role of Standardized Admission Tests in the Debate about Merit,

Academic Standards, and Affirmative Action.” ​Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.​ Mar.

2000, pp. 90–100. ​EBSCOhost​. Accessed 19 March 2019.