The SAT, or the Standard Assessment Tests, are usually considered one of the most important parts of the four-year college admissions process. Although some colleges are opting for their application processes to be test-optional the SATs and standardized testing are still very important because they give colleges a way to compare all of their applicant’s scores to the national applicant pool.
The SATs and standardized tests in general may be a good resource for colleges to see a student’s test taking abilities compared to other students but that does not mean they are representative of a student’s true academic potential.
“The higher the score on your SAT the more opportunities are available to the student. They [colleges] tend to look at the holistic student and will take test scores, GPA and student activities, and kind of look at the whole well rounded student in general and not always specifically test scores.” said Michelle Warner, a College and Career Coach in South’s Aspire Center.
Colleges might be more focused on seeing students that are well-rounded but the SATs and students’ SAT scores are still very important for applications into competitive colleges.
“.. you can have great grades but if you don’t have a really high SAT you’re just not going to get in… you only get into the more competitive colleges with a really good SAT score,” said Matthew Isom, a teacher at South who teaches an SAT prep course.
Overall the SAT is a very important test for students’ future but it is definitely not the only thing a student needs to be successful in life.
