Should colleges require the SAT or ACT as mandatory for admissions?

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References for studying for the SAT. (Credit: WINK News)
Credit: WINK News

More trouble for students whose parents bribed or cheated their way into elite schools. The University of Southern California placed a hold on the account of any student who might be involved in the scam.

But this whole scandal begs the question: could this lead to more schools dropping the ACT and SAT requirements because the tests are easily manipulated?

Arel Sinett said she stresses out over the pressure of earning high scores taking the ACT and SAT for college. Testing is a complicated subject that almost every student can relate to.

“At some point in your senior year of high school and your junior year that’s all it becomes,” Sinett said.

The college admissions scandal has reignited the debate over whether schools should use the SAT or ACT as a mandatory requirement for college admissions.

“The way test scores were manipulated by parents who spent lots of money to fake their kids scores, to bribe proctors to change their scores and the higher impostor to take tests for their kids is another example that these tests are not an objective measure of academic talent,” said Robert Schaffer, public education director for FairTest.

Schaffer said he had seen an increase in the number of parents and students looking for other alternatives. There are more than 1,000 accredited colleges that have made the test scores optional for admission.

“Families, students, their parents, their teachers and counselors and other advocates are looking at the better options test-optional schools offer them,” Schaffer said.

The University of Denver changed its admissions policy as it no longer requires students who apply to take the SAT or ACT. Locally, Hodges University and Florida Southwestern do not either.

Students Nick McConnaughey and Michael Balars said the SAT and ACT are not an accurate representation of the work they have done semester to semester over more than a decade of schooling.

“It means that you’ll be judged as more than a score,” Schaffer said.

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