The SAT is a standardized test widely used by American universities all over the world for almost a century now. The general test scores have been a requirement for many institutions, some even recommended taking several subject tests ranging from sciences to different languages. Nowadays, the whole world is trying to adjust to the “new realities” of a global pandemic, and the examination centers, as well as universities, are not an exception. On January 19th The College Board, which operates the standardized examinations, decided to permanently eliminate the SAT subject tests and the optional essay section for numerous reasons. As Forbes reported, The College Board was discussing this idea since March, when most schools and tests went online. The College Board announced that these days, Advanced Placement courses are the more relevant indicators of a student’s understanding in particular subject areas, as they "provide the kind of hands-on learning experiences and practical, real-world work that colleges want students to see."
Besides that, the examination criteria for this year were set aside even by colleges themselves considering the pandemic left thousands of students unable to take the exam. Combined with the vast number of universities that have already made the examination optional, the College Board felt the need to make this decision. U.S. students can get their subject exam registrations canceled immediately and obtain a refund. However, international students including Georgians will still be eligible to take the exams, in May and June, unless the situation in the country worsens again.
As previously mentioned, the College Board is also removing the SAT's optional essay section starting June 2021. The essays, first introduced in 2005 and then made optional in 2016, faced criticism from admissions officers and educators for a while now as the grading system often proved to be quite subjective and inaccurate. Many opposed this judgment and argued that the section was the only way for students to express their creativity in such a standardized test.
People all over the world had mixed feelings about the changes made by the College Board. So, we decided to find out what the GZAAT community thinks about the situation, knowing many students are taking or were planning to take the tests themselves. A survey was conducted asking the students whether or not they liked the reform to which the majority of 79 percent voted “yes” while the rest’s answer was “no”.
“I personally didn’t like the reform. I think subject tests were a great way for students to express more of their interests and knowledge about specific subjects especially considering not everyone is offered the AP classes. The essay section should have also been kept as an option for those wanting to express their creativity which the general test does not allow to do,” says one of the juniors, Liza Kharabadze. Another junior, Keto Antidze, had a completely opposite response, “I thought the College Board’s decision was great as standardized tests don’t show a person’s true abilities and just stress them out.”
We also discussed the matter with one of our college counselors, Marina Japaridze and got her opinions about it. ‘’The pandemic was like a catalyst for this change. For a long period of time this decision has been discussed several times, according to numerous researches SAT subject tests were much more effective when they were first introduced than they are now. Previously, they were more concentrated on testing the students’ skills and abilities’’, says Marina. As a matter of fact, she was very happy to hear about this decision. Mostly because students were obsessed over the SAT scores and forgot about other important aspects, while now it is becoming more obvious the exam is not as valuable as other extracurricular activities. Nevertheless, students should not completely dismiss the value of the SATs, since they may still be beneficial for them.
Overall, only time can tell whether or not the decision was correct. Yet, in the meantime, all of us should try to do our best during this unpredictable period and work as hard as possible.
Edited by Elene Berelashvili
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