Samo students encouraged by SAT essay removal

By Rachel Levin, Copy Editor

On Jan. 19, the College Board announced it would no longer be offering SAT subject tests in the United States, and will also stop administering the optional essay section of the SAT after June 2021.

The optional essay and subject tests have been cancelled because of safety concerns in regards to COVID-19—not just for the school year, but for good. This process was already being considered at the College Board, but was expedited because of the 2020-2021 school year’s unique circumstances. There have been multiple attempts at developing an online version of these tests, but they have either been abandoned or are only in very early development. However, international students in countries with different COVID-19 situations will still have the opportunity to take the subject tests in May and June of 2021.

The PSAT was still administered at Samo on Jan. 26 despite test cancellations, and 185 Samo students chose to take it. Samo took many precautions, such as giving students extra masks when they entered and having only ten students in each room, but there was still a significant risk-benefit analysis to be done. The main SAT tests yet to be administered are still scheduled, but with COVID-19 cases rising, and over 34,000 deaths in California so far, that status is prone to change. There was major pushback to the PSAT among parents and educators, and the PSAT is also no longer the only way to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship. With that incentive removed, many students dropped out last minute.

Photo from collegeboard.org - Both the SAT and PSAT are managed by CollegeBoard.

Principal Antonio Shelton, although not a proponent of standardized testing himself, still found the PSAT justifiable.

“We followed the protocols that we thought and knew were the best in order to ensure the staff and students were safe,” Shelton said.

Although SAT subject tests are rarely part of admission requirements, they are traditionally used to help students stand out in subjects they are particularly proficient in. This, along with many colleges removing SAT and ACT requirements from their applications, puts pressure on students to distinguish themselves in other ways. 

Still, many Samo students share the sentiment that, with these cancellations, the standardized test portion of college applications won’t survive for long. Samo senior Elizabeth Tarsky (’21) is one of the many students who share this point of view.

“It is setting a trend where it seems like the SAT and ACT will fade out of use,” Tarsky said.

These changes could have both negative and positive effects on students’ mental health, their options for college and their willingness to apply to college. The cancellations of the subject tests and essays has, as aforementioned, been in the works for a while, so perhaps it really was the more beneficial option. Shelton, at least, shares that opinion.

“I think it's a really good thing that it's been scaled back because students, I believe, who are not necessarily test takers can still be successful,” Shelton said.

The SAT subject tests and essay have long been optional, but now that they are permanently cancelled it brings into question the logic and safety of practice tests as well as the admissions requirement. COVID-19 has changed and will continue to change the landscape of applying to and preparing for college. 

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