Test Optional: The Most Viable Option

By Hannah Lancman ‘22
Standardized testing has been plaguing high school students for decades. The tedious process is treated as one that everyone must experience, which somehow defines the American high school and college experience: a basic test of knowledge designed to bring the millions of students in the country to the same scale. How these tests have become the standard procedure for a country that preaches independence and uniqueness over all is unfathomable. 

Standardized tests seem to diminish the individuality of a student’s intelligence, marking an otherwise diverse application off the table for acceptance. How can one type of test define the intelligence of everyone? The short answer is that it cannot. 
Finally realizing that a student’s capabilities cannot be described by the results of a test, many colleges have started a “test optional” policy, stating that admissions will look at test scores with a holistic approach. Test scores sent in at a test optional school would be seen as something added to the application, like a resumè, or extra supplemental essay. But this year, most colleges decided to go test optional out of necessity rather than the desire for change.
 During COVID, finding tutoring and test center options became extremely complicated for students. Most public schools, usually annual test centers, were completely closed because their students were on remote learning. As a result, colleges started becoming test optional to accommodate the millions of students unable to find a spot at a testing center. 
Without being held back by the pressures of standardized testing, “selective schools saw a sharp increase in applicants and a more diverse applicant pool”, said USA Today. Suddenly, students seemed more confident in their applications, and the diversity that colleges craved was satisfied by the simple switch to test optional. 
The college world suddenly seemed to realize that standardized tests are not an accurate representation of the applicant. Rather, a student that displays themself as an individual with well rounded grades and extracurriculars truly shows if the student belongs at the colleges they apply to. Schools started becoming permanently test optional, or at least announced that they were temporarily trying it out. 
From a student’s perspective, test optional is a step in the right direction. It allows students to focus on their studies and extracurriculars, rather than waste time studying for a test that has no impact on their future besides where they could get into college. The idea of college and a student’s future seem to be off in the distance when studying for standardized tests; an unreachable goal with a long, hard road ahead. 
Sophomore year: the torture begins. Studying for the SATs and ACTs requires time, money and motivation; things that some 15-17 year olds may not prioritize. Time is of the essence when studying for the SATs and ACTs, as most tutoring programs suggest studying for 100 hours, spaced out between 1-8 months. This practice takes time away from regular school studies and activities in the lives of the students. Students constantly complain about the pointlessness of the SATs, and their immense inability to accurately measure intelligence. Still, students push themselves to study under the pressures of the college board and their parents. 
In the past, colleges put heavy emphasis on standardized tests, considering them on par with an applicant’s transcript and extra curriculars. But because of COVID, college applications have changed forever. As COVID has drastically changed so many of the world’s traditions in the past two years, this is one process that was never expected to be reassessed. 
Students, teachers and college admissions counselors are now asking themselves: What truly qualifies a student for a college? How can one student be accepted over another? Is there a way to even the playing field for applicants that doesn’t require a test? Although these questions may be unanswered for now, supporting the test optional policy is a futuristic idea that encourages every student to apply with their unique selves, rather than with a number on a test.