Educators question aptitude test
as measure for college admission

By CHRISTINA MERCHANT

Bernice O’Brien, a senior at Rockbridge County High School, will take the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT, on Saturday for the second time. She hopes to improve her score and her chances of getting into the college of her choice. 

But O’Brien wishes the test wasn’t one you could study for. Only then would it truly be a measure of aptitude, she said.

A national association for college admissions counselors has spotlighted similar shortcomings with the standardized tests used to determine admission at most colleges across the country.  

In his 11th grade english class, Brian Baker teaches students common vocabulary words each week to help prepare them for the SAT. (CHRISTINA MERCANT/ Rockbridge Report)

The National Association for College Admission Counseling released a report last week encouraging colleges to reconsider the need for the SAT and another standardized test, the ACT, in the admission process. 

The report explores potential problems with the tests and why the tests are not necessarily fair to all groups. The admissions counselors group found that the real problem is the misuse of the test, and not the test itself.

Already, several colleges have stopped requiring the SAT for admission, including Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Middlebury College in Vermont.

Rockbridge County High School Principal Jennifer Weaver says that when students are tested on general knowledge, some students are put at a disadvantage.

“Students who haven’t had as many educational experiences are tripped up by formatting of tests or certain vocabulary that doesn’t necessarily show if they know content or not,” said Weaver.

Area students will take the SAT this saturday, Oct. 4, at Rockbridge County High School. (CHRISTINA MERCANT/ Rockbridge Report)

Brian Baker, who teaches 11th grade English at Rockbridge County High School, said the SAT is a test students can study for, and as a teacher he feels pressure to prepare students for it. Baker says he avoids teaching to the test, but he does drill students weekly on common vocabulary words and word roots.

Marshall Lancey, a junior at the high school, says the test seems to measure how much you can remember rather than how much you know.

At Washington and Lee University, the SAT still plays a useful role in making admission decisions.

Associate Dean of Admissions Jonathan Webster says that SAT or ACT scores are just one of the factors used to distinguish among applicants whose academic records and course work are similar.

Other factors used to make admissions decisions include academic performance, essays, teacher recommendation letters and students’ resumes.  If the SAT requirement were dropped, Webster believes more weight would be given to those other factors and the interview might play a bigger role.

One positive result of the admissions counselors group’s report, Webster says, is that educators are now focusing on how to best prepare students for college.

Rockbridge High School Principal Weaver says that the focus should be on students’ taking challenging courses.

“The strength of the program a student has in high school is the best indicator of how they will do in college,” Weaver said. “It’s much more correlated than their SAT score.”

Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.

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