The Mycenaean

The SAT will introduce changes to its test in the coming year. These changes are raising questions on whether students should take it.

In a recent Yahoo! article, Anthony Green, a tutor for the top 1%, or the extremely rich kids, has expressed how, since the SAT is changing the point system back to a 1600-point test next year, no one should take it.

As the SAT makes it changes, Green has advised none of his students to take the first three rounds of the SATs in March, May, and June. He says he doesn’t want anyone to be a test subject as the College Board adjusts the format of the test.

With the ‘new’ changes, the SAT resembles how it was before the point scale was changed. Also, the SAT is slowly becoming more like the ACT. The College Board is making the essay optional and combining the reading and writing portions of the test into one verbal section, sliming the point system down by 800 points.

Green disagrees with these changes and doesn’t think they’re beneficial. However, Green only tutors the wealthiest kids and might not know what high school students at schools like Leesville should do.

He says no one should take the SAT, but he’s not really hands-on with students at public schools. It’s unknown the strengths and weaknesses of his students, but not every Leesville student can afford a tutor for $1000 an hour. To get a different take on the SAT and ACT, Ms. Oxendine, a counselor at Leesville, gives her perspective of these tests.

When counselors and students talk about the college admission tests, counselors tend to recommend both the SAT and ACT. After taking them both, the student should decide which one they prefered or performed better on and then take that test again. Most times, students have a clear preference after taking them both, according to Ms. Oxendine.

“The state of NC pays for every student to take the ACT in the spring of the junior year and that provides a wonderful opportunity to ‘test out’ the ACT. Also, the PSAT and the PLAN tests that are administered in the sophomore year are good barometers for experiencing the differences in the tests, the timing, the sections, etc.,” said Oxendine.

By allowing students to “test out” the ACT for free, it lets them get a feel of whether or not they prefer the ACT over the SAT. If they prefer the ACT, they’re able to take it again without having to pay the fee twice. If not, they didn’t waste money on a test they might not use for college applications.

Most of the time, colleges want students to submit all test scores, and they will choose the highest scores to decide whether or not to admit the student.

Green is strongly against students taking the SAT because of the changes being made. Through the first three rounds, many mishaps could happen as the College Board sorts out how the test will work. Green doesn’t want anyone to be a part of the new version, but even then, students can always choose to send only the ACT scores for college admissions.