Do the ACT and SAT hinder the opportunity for a college degree?

In recent weeks, colleges and universities including the University of Texas at Austin, Yale and Brown have all announced that they would be requiring applicants to submit their ACT and SAT scores. In the midst of a global pandemic back in 2020, there was a surge of changes among college admissions, specifically with standardized tests becoming optional. Many colleges and universities made this change due to the pandemic, a difficulty in scheduling the exams but most of all, because colleges thought it would boost equity and diversity since there is a correlation of higher scores with those who are privileged. Although this change in the college application process caused a sigh of relief among high school students, this wasn’t the case for some.

Preparing for the ACT and SAT may be exasperating for many, but it can open doors for less fortunate students. Students who come from higher income families often have a wider variety of college preparation opportunities. From Advanced Placement classes, college coaches and the amount of extracurriculars made available to these students, these possibilities put them at an advantage for college admissions and acceptances. Kids from lower income families, foster care programs or backgrounds of homelessness do not get these same opportunities. For those kids, the ACT and SAT could be their only window to higher education. While these standardized tests are not a walk in the park, ACT.org offers free study guides and full-length practice tests for any student to do. Along with that, Khan Academy, College Board and The Princeton Review offer free study materials and guides for the SAT. Students can also receive fee waivers for either test, more than once if they wish to retake it.

We understand that these tests are not for everyone and that there are many factors that hinder students from getting the scores they hope for. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), test anxiety, dyslexia and many other aspects can impact someone’s test-taking skills. Colleges know that these exams are not the end-all-be-all quality of a student’s application and look at them with a more holistic view.

In a study done by Dartmouth College from its own admissions data, they took the application cohorts from 2017 through 2019—where tests were required—and compared it to the cohorts of 2021 and 2022—where tests were optional. They found that applicants from the test-optional cohort that presented a score below the average Dartmouth students’ SAT score were less likely to submit them. Furthermore, students from low-income households and/or who were first-generation students were twice as likely to submit their scores in the same 1400s range.

According to Dartmouth, “These data imply that there are hundreds of less-advantaged applicants with scores in the 1400 range who should be submitting scores to identify themselves to Admissions, but do not under test-optional policies.”

Students from low-income households tend to underestimate how much some of these prestigious schools want them.

Similar studies done at colleges like Fordham University and Boston College have found similar discrepancies. According to the Hechinger Report, “The 2022 acceptance rate at Fordham University was 63% among students who submitted scores, compared with 49% among those who did. Similarly at Boston College’s 2022 incoming class recorded an acceptance rate of 25% among those who submitted scores and 10% among students who did not.” The same can be said for colleges such as Barnard, the University of Virginia, Georgia Tech, Amherst and many more. Students who see this as only a part of their college applications are more willing to submit their test scores compared to the overwhelming number of lower-income students who often have less access to resources such as college counselors often feel defeated and don’t even bother to submit theirs. The disparity is so blatantly obvious, and these test-optional approaches in admissions need readjustment.

Emi Nietfeld expressed her appreciation for the SAT in her opinion column in the New York Times. For her, in 2009 and 2010, the SAT opened a world of opportunity when she got accepted into Harvard, even with a not-so-great score, because if the test would have been optional then, she said she would likely not have submitted her scores. Harvard provided financial aid and an opportunity for a new life after going in and out of foster care, living in her car and mental health struggles. “For many of us, standardized tests provided our one shot to prove our potential, despite the obstacles in our lives or the untidy pasts we had…I will always feel tenderness toward the Scantron sheets that unlocked higher education and a better life.” Her story is one of many that found opportunity through taking a standardized exam.

It is important to recognize that the SAT and ACT are not exams trying to trick you and bring you down. We recognize the struggles that students face with standardized testing and are not trying to minimize those feelings. Rather, we hope to offer a new perspective for students to think about. You never know—it could have possibly been the only opportunity for higher education for many of your classmates.