By Isabel Arguelles, Entertainment editor
For students who are planning for college, there is a lot of pressure for one to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test, also known as the SAT. But, students at El Camino are experiencing mixed feelings about the importance of the test.
The SAT is a standardized test offered by College Board, designed to measure the literacy, numeracy, and writing skills that are necessary for a successful college education. The SAT is offered seven times a year at thousands of testing centers nationwide, and is currently a pencil-and-paper exam (a switch to digital SAT testing is set for 2024) that takes around three hours to complete. Students can take the test as many times as they want, but must pay a $60 fee each time they register for it. A fee waiver is also available through College Board for low income students to take the test for free.
Some colleges have a cut-and-dry SAT policy, like University of California schools (UCs), which do not allow for score submission. The UC system stopped accepting SAT scores in 2021, stating that standardized tests are biased against low-income students, and that the SAT cannot accurately predict a student’s grades in college.
Alternatively, some private prestigious colleges like Georgetown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology still require SAT scores to apply.
However, many schools that El Camino students show interest in, such as California State Universities and the majority of other colleges in the United States, have a test-optional system that allows students to submit an SAT score if they like, but it is not required for admission.
Arizona State University is an example of a school that has test-optional admissions. ASU Admissions Coordinator Lala Lassiter explained how the SAT score is not looked at for admission decisions, but is instead used for additional merit scholarships. This means that if a student has an SAT score over 1180, they can get additional money off state tuition.
Lassiter recommends students applying to ASU or similar institutions take the test at least once and see what happens as, according to her, there’s no reason not to.
“College is expensive. You want to go with the best financial for you and your family, but if you can just take a test and it can improve your chances on decreasing the amount of money you pay, I would totally do that,” Lassiter said.
Along with the opportunity for internal scholarships that an SAT score allows for, a high enough score on either the English or Math section of the test can fulfill a prerequisite and allow an incoming college freshman to start out taking higher level courses in that field.
Katie Wray (‘23), former EC student and current San Jose State University freshman, used her score on her application to SJSU and is glad she did.
“[The SAT] gave me the chance to get credits for classes so I wouldn’t have to take them in college,” Wray said.
The prerequisite fulfillment that the SAT offers can be valuable, but AVID Teacher Amy Heno emphasized that there are other opportunities on EC’s campus that can accomplish the same college prerequisites, such as taking AP classes and AP tests. She also mentioned taking the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum senior English class can benefit seniors’ college applications.
“If you get a C or better, if you take four years of math, if you’ve taken three or four years of science,” Heno said. “[Those are] factors that they take into consideration.”
Taking the SAT also comes with a lot of stress for many, as it is a lengthy, high-pressure test, and many students will agonize over retaking it until they can get a “perfect” score—a goal that may be unattainable for most.
For one high-achieving EC senior, her test score became so important that after taking it multiple times without getting the score she was looking for, she traveled as far as Reno, Nevada just to retake the test in August when it was sold out in the Sacramento area.
“Not worth it,” the source said. “[Taking the test] is pretty draining because it kind of just feels like it takes up the whole day.”
Students who are good test takers, and want to make up for some gaps in their GPA, could still take the SAT and submit their scores if they are above the national average. Though, even a high score is unlikely to be a deciding factor for test-optional colleges, especially for a student with strong academic and extracurricular performance otherwise. More information about the SAT and a link to register for the test can be found at: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat.
The Eagle Eye published an earlier version of this article, which has been edited.
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