EN 102
Professor Whitener
09 September 2016
Are Test Scores Important to the College Admission Process?
Nowadays, students everywhere are panicking about test scores. These test scores are critical to being accepted into schools due to the growing competitiveness at colleges and universities. For some, this is a good thing and for others, this is one of the worst things about the application process. If you're a good test taker and could ace these standardized test in your sleep then why worry, right? However, some are not good test takers but are outstanding in every other category, yet schools still won’t except them. So what I’m asking is: should these tests stay or should they be eliminated from the decision making process? One could …show more content…
They are often helpful as one piece of information in an application to determine whether an applicant is likely to do well in one's college environment.” This shows that standardized tests can cause controversy because they do not show what the student truly has to offer. For college’s and universities there are thousands and thousands of applications, thus it is hard to make an adequate decision based on minimal information. These tests are designed to help make the decision making process a little easier for those people who make the decision. Standardized Tests are not enjoyable to take, however, they give a universal baseline test for the schools. At the University of Alabama, the school I attend, we have a 51% to 49% out of state to in state ratio. Considering this ratio and students coming from a plethora of different school systems it makes going based off of just grades and extracurriculars challenging. The SAT/ACT gives the college admission process a universal test to look at. Allowing the admission’s board to see how well students can preform in their college environment. For example, …show more content…
There are many great students out there that just cannot take a test to save their lives,and that is where it gets hard as well on the admission’s board. Unless, you meet everyone that sends in an application and are a fly on the wall in their daily life you don't know how they study or whats going on in their lives, showing how unfair the process is. Thomas Rochon was the president of Ithaca College, so he saw many viewpoints of the situation. He saw the process with accepting test scores and with not accepting test scores; and after watching what happened he still felt test scores are not crucial to the process. Ithaca is one of the many colleges that eliminated test scores from the admissions process saying “ requiring a test score might limit our applicant pool and potentially distort our admissions and financial aid decision”(Rochon 1). Ithaca found that it made a minuscule difference in the decision making process and still allowed for many diverse and academically motivated students. Many colleges actually understand the fact that some students are not good at taking test; this college among many private institutions realized that as well. Coming from a personal standpoint I know how test scores can make people go crazy. Many students such as myself take classes to help boost their score, and read the prep guides, and take the
Professor Whitener
09 September 2016
Are Test Scores Important to the College Admission Process?
Nowadays, students everywhere are panicking about test scores. These test scores are critical to being accepted into schools due to the growing competitiveness at colleges and universities. For some, this is a good thing and for others, this is one of the worst things about the application process. If you're a good test taker and could ace these standardized test in your sleep then why worry, right? However, some are not good test takers but are outstanding in every other category, yet schools still won’t except them. So what I’m asking is: should these tests stay or should they be eliminated from the decision making process? One could …show more content…
They are often helpful as one piece of information in an application to determine whether an applicant is likely to do well in one's college environment.” This shows that standardized tests can cause controversy because they do not show what the student truly has to offer. For college’s and universities there are thousands and thousands of applications, thus it is hard to make an adequate decision based on minimal information. These tests are designed to help make the decision making process a little easier for those people who make the decision. Standardized Tests are not enjoyable to take, however, they give a universal baseline test for the schools. At the University of Alabama, the school I attend, we have a 51% to 49% out of state to in state ratio. Considering this ratio and students coming from a plethora of different school systems it makes going based off of just grades and extracurriculars challenging. The SAT/ACT gives the college admission process a universal test to look at. Allowing the admission’s board to see how well students can preform in their college environment. For example, …show more content…
There are many great students out there that just cannot take a test to save their lives,and that is where it gets hard as well on the admission’s board. Unless, you meet everyone that sends in an application and are a fly on the wall in their daily life you don't know how they study or whats going on in their lives, showing how unfair the process is. Thomas Rochon was the president of Ithaca College, so he saw many viewpoints of the situation. He saw the process with accepting test scores and with not accepting test scores; and after watching what happened he still felt test scores are not crucial to the process. Ithaca is one of the many colleges that eliminated test scores from the admissions process saying “ requiring a test score might limit our applicant pool and potentially distort our admissions and financial aid decision”(Rochon 1). Ithaca found that it made a minuscule difference in the decision making process and still allowed for many diverse and academically motivated students. Many colleges actually understand the fact that some students are not good at taking test; this college among many private institutions realized that as well. Coming from a personal standpoint I know how test scores can make people go crazy. Many students such as myself take classes to help boost their score, and read the prep guides, and take the