Should I take standardized tests?
If you are a sophomore or a junior in high school, you are probably deciding, or will soon decide, whether or not you’ll take a standardized test such as the PSAT, SAT, or ACT for your college applications. A lot has changed in the past few years, so let me take you through some of the basics. (If you sign up for one of my comprehensive or fundamentals packages, we’ll walk through all this in more depth.)
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I don’t like standardized tests. I think they put students through a lot of unnecessary stress, and I am not persuaded that they are a particularly good measure of a student’s intellectual ability or college readiness. They give an advantage to students who are good test takers to begin with, as well as students with the financial resources to make use of test prep courses and private tutors. In life, I have not found that my ability to fill out bubbles with a #2 pencil has had much practical value.
The good news is that after decades of research, and thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities have begun to move away from standardized test scores in their admissions process. Many colleges temporarily did away with requiring SAT or ACT scores in 2020 because many of the testing dates were canceled due to COVID-19. After a couple of years of going without test scores, most schools have chosen to stick with a test-optional or test-blind admissions policy. The University of California system now doesn’t even accept test scores. Test scores are optional at all the Ivy League schools and most top liberal arts colleges. Of all the colleges and universities my clients are applying to this year, only the University of Georgia requires either the ACT or SAT.
What does this mean? It means that if taking standardized tests is unduly stressful for a student, or if it seems like a waste of time and/or money, there are plenty of schools that are test optional, and thus lots of great options for every student. That said, if you have your heart set on the University of Florida or another school that requires standardized tests, you’ll need to take the SAT or ACT at least once.
What’s my advice? For most students, especially those who are undecided about where they want to attend college or at least want to keep their options open, I suggest taking the PSAT in the spring of sophomore year, and then either the SAT or ACT (or both) in fall of junior year. If you want to improve your score(s), you can retake the test in spring of junior year and/or fall of senior year. Since most schools are test optional, test scores in most cases will only help your applications.
Should you submit your score? It depends. With test optional schools, I recommend submitting test scores if your score is at or above the average test scores of students the school admits. So if you’re applying to DePauw University, where the average composite SAT score among first-year students is 1260, and your composite score is 1280, I recommend submitting.
There’s a lot to consider here—and lots more to discuss when it comes to actual test-taking strategy and preparation. If you’d like assistance from a professional college counselor at any stage of the college readiness process, starting with freshman year, that’s what I’m here for! Schedule your free one-hour consultation today.
