Of all of the qualifying criteria a student is judged on, such as high school transcripts and extracurricular activities, standardized test scores seem to incite the most panic from college-bound students. Whether it is because it seems like such a definitive number to be judged on, or because you are not the “testing type”, it is important to know this isn’t the only factor colleges consider. In this post we break down the relative importance of test scores in the college admissions process and offer a little more background about the tests to put you at ease!
Admissions officers look at a variety of information that make up a student’s profile before making a decision. In general, this criteria falls into three categories: academic record, test scores, and extracurricular activities. Each of these three factors will hold around the same weight in the decision process, but will vary from school to school, and possibly even from applicant to applicant.
After looking at these three aspects of a student’s profile, admissions officers will narrow the pool further by considering more personal factors such as interviews, personal statements, admissions essays, letters of recommendation or a demonstrated interest in the school.
To help you get a better understanding of the importance test scores, here’s a breakdown of where it falls in a student’s profile before personal factors are put into consideration:
Standardized test scores have been part of the college admission process since the SAT test was first developed in 1926 as the Scholastic Aptitude Test by the College Board. Later, in 1959, the ACT test was developed as a competitor to the SAT and is now considered the second most important test in college admissions. These tests were developed as a numerical way to determine a student’s academic strengths and weaknesses. While these scores still allow all students to be evaluated on a relatively similar scale, some argue it isn’t 100% accurate or fair, despite the fact that other factors are now considered in college admissions as well.
While most schools require SAT scores, more and more colleges are making these tests optional, or allowing ACT scores instead. Schools will look at any SAT II scores, though these are not a significant part of the overall score. If you take the SAT test more than once, schools today will generally look at your best score, so if you take it multiple times and your scores vary, you can most likely assume schools will judge you based on the highest.
Overall, schools are looking for students who display academic growth, performance, and desire to learn, along with a range of interests outside of the classroom, and are asking themselves “is this student the right fit?” If you’re lacking in one area such as test scores, admissions offices will use all of the other factors to make an informed decision. If you want to learn more about these tests themselves visit the College Testing pages on HowToGetIn.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment