What Is The Importance Of The College Entrance Exam

College entrance exams have long since been a standard entailment in order to be accepted into the college of one’s choosing. Though they are expected among most colleges, these standardized tests are poorly justified and present a defective outcome of a student’s intuition. In general, colleges require students to complete the ACT and SAT, conveniently providing a neutral benchmark for all whom they might accept or decline into their school. However, these tests fail to accurately represent students’ intelligence and consequently provide an inadequate score not correlated with the student’s true capabilities. In order to benefit not only the students but also the colleges they apply for, college entrance exams need to be revoked. The ACT …show more content…
Karen Stroud Felton, the Dean of Admissions at George Washington University, believes some students feel discouraged “from applying [to college] if their scores were not as strong as their high school performance” (Brock). The added stress from studying for these rigorous tests takes away from the importance of the college admission process and in turn causes students to focus heavily on whether they will pass the test or not. Also, time is a large factor in determining the student’s final test score. Many people feel pressured when completing a task within a limited time span, and accurately finishing a four hour test of paramount importance is no exception. William Hiss, the lead author of a study involving the tests true importance in college said that the “tests are largely a speed processing test….They’re not an intelligence test, and there are many, many students who may be brilliant, may be very talented, but are not successfully measured by speed processing” (Whitaker). Students become so overwhelmed with their limited time that they are unable to accurately complete the test like they would if they were not timed. Likewise, due to recent studies college entrance exams are found to be biased to the general student population. The discrepancy discovered between female and male test scores is unlike the student’s usual performance in school. After observing scores from both genders, researches found that “though female high school students and female college students usually outperform male high school students and male college students (grade-wise), female students score poorly on exams when compared to their male peers” (“Are College Entrance Exams Flawed?”). Because of this evidence, it is apparent that males outperform females on college entrance exams despite females’ usual