The SATs have played a very important role in the college admissions process for many students who are hoping to continue their education past high school. The test’s objective is to standardize the admissions process for colleges (WVIA 2011). The SATs were taken by high school students for the first time in 1926 (WVIA 2011). However, as with many other aspects of life, things change. Society today is constantly advancing and creating new solutions as problems arise. Unfortunately, the SATs have created many problems over the last few years, more specifically problems involving disadvantaging minority students. Although there have been minor changes made, society has yet to fix the major issues caused by the problematic test.
Nearly two million students spend $2.5 billion dollars total on test preparation, tutoring, and the test itself each year (Hechinger, 2011). The pricey test inevitably puts minorities at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, the SATs are a big part of the college admissions process for many schools and many minority-grouped students do not have any other option but to take the test. Whites on average score higher on the test than minorities (Hechinger, 2011) Perhaps that’s why only 32% of minority students are enrolled in undergraduate programs (Hechinger, 2011).
Minority students may experience stereotype threat, thus fearing that they will confirm negative stereotypes that others may have towards one’s group (i.e. scoring low on the SATs) (Schneider et al., 2012). If one already has a poor academic self-concept (feeling like one has poor academic achievement), one may self-handicap to relieve the feeling of disappointment if he/she does indeed do poorly on the test. For instance, suppose a latina girl decides to go out with friends the night before taking the SATs. If she does poorly on the test, she may not feel as negatively. This is because she can easily excuse her failure by blaming her low score on her going out the night before instead of on poor academic ability (self-handicapping) (Schneider et al., 2012).
The difference in test scores between minority students and non-minority students are causing colleges to struggle to find ways to remain racially diverse (Hechinger, 2011). Luckily, some colleges are taking action to ensure their applicants a fairer chance to gain admission to their schools. In recent years, the SAT optional movement has become very popular. More and more schools are making the SAT voluntary instead of mandatory. In fact, more than 280 of the nation’s 2,600 four year colleges and universities do not require SAT scores (Christian Science Monitor, 2008).
The SATs have long been used in the college admissions process, but it is time to reconsider them. The standardized test clearly causes problems with its unfairness to minorities taking the test. Every student deserves a fair chance to be accepted to the college of their choice. The SATs are one of the major problems minority students face when applying to college. Taking the SAT optional approach is a good method, however, eliminating the test completely and offering alternative options to students could possibly be the best method in predicting college success.
References
Hechinger, J. (2011) SAT Coaching Found to Boost Scores – Barely. Business News & Financial News The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones and Company, Inc,
History of the SAT: (2011). A Timeline. WVIA. WGBH Educational Foundation
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381
Shelve the S.A.T? Christian Science Monitor (2008): 1. The Christian Science Publishing Society
Tags: education, minorities, SATs