There’s an ACT test coming up on February 6, and the regular registration deadline is tomorrow, January 15. There’s an SAT on March 13th, with a registration deadline February 12th. Should current juniors consider taking either of these tests?
Nope.
The main reason I'm not recommending anyone take the ACT in February or SAT in March is simply the Covid situation. With the numbers as high as they are, I just don't feel comfortable encouraging anyone to go into a group setting in the near future. Last fall there was a lot of chaos surrounding test administration, with many test sites closing at the last minute, so I don't have full confidence that registering for the spring exams will even get you into the spring exams. I would look ahead to the June or August exams instead of spring. That will still give you plenty of time to re-take if you want.
Another reason to put off testing is the number of universities that are test optional. A growing number of colleges were already test optional. And then last year a whole lot more went test optional, some for one year and some for multiple years. But the ones that only gave a one-year break are likely to do it again (at least one already has), because the pandemic is even worse right now than it was last June. By the time you are applying this fall, It may be that the majority—or even all—of the schools you’re considering won’t even be requiring test scores. So risking an unhealthy situation for an unnecessary test just doesn’t seem like a great idea.
Let’s also look at reasons why you might want to take the test soon:
You want to take the test once, early, to get it out of the way and focus on other things in the summer and fall. I love the thinking behind this. I don’t, however, think it’s all that likely to happen. In my experience, almost nobody is ever happy with their test scores. Even if you take the test and get what you think is a good score, there will still be some tempting reason to take it again and aim for a higher score. Your scores will be just under the mid-range of a school, and you want to get them up just a little bit more. Your scores will be just under the top 25% of a school, and you want to get them up just a little bit more. Your score will have a 9 in it—either a 29 composite for the ACT or a combined SAT score that ends with 90—and you want to get it up just a little bit more. That just a little bit more is going to be hard to resist, and so the “once and early” strategy often fails. But if you think you will actually do it this way, go for it…in June. Not right now.
You want to get a baseline score to help you plan for test prep and retakes. Again, this is completely rational and practical. You probably have an idea of where you want your test scores to be, so now you need to know where you are. I get that. But again, you can put off your first exam until June and still be able to execute that plan. You can also take practice tests to get a good idea of your starting point, and they are free and can be done from the safety of your own home.
You want to take the exam as often as possible for superscoring purposes. This is something I hear less often. Most the people I’ve worked with who took the exam a bunch of times thought they’d take the test once, maybe twice. Then they just ended up taking it three or more times because they kept chasing that just a little bit more. Some students, though, absolutely do decide early on that they’ll take the exam four or five time to get the highest possible score. While I don’t endorse this approach, I do understand it. And again, if this is your plan you can take the SAT five times between June and December. Give it time.
But there’s another way to think about testing, an approach I do endorse: don’t take them at all. Not this spring, not this summer, not this fall. Decide right now that you’re only going to apply to test-optional or test-blind schools. There are lots of reasons to dislike the tests, and Fairtest is good at explaining them. Here’s the thing that I always come back to, though: every other part of your college application has value far beyond college applications. Doing well in your high school classes, being involved in your community, strengthening your writing skills, practicing interviews, taking action to pursue your interests—all these are valuable on their own. But a college-entrance exam has no value once you enter college. It’s extremely limited in usefulness. So I encourage you to skip that part. It’s not worth it.
Does that mean you’re eliminating choices based solely on their testing policy? Yes. But there are thousands of colleges and universities. You’ll only apply to maybe a dozen, and only attend one. Elimination is what the process is all about. But isn’t testing policy a pretty arbitrary reason to eliminate choices? Yes. But so are other reasons. You want to stay within 100 miles of home? Arbitrary. You want to avoid places that are hot, or avoid places that are cold? Arbitrary. You want to go to a college with a “good reputation?” Arbitrary. It’s fine to use an arbitrary reason to pass on a college. But could you be letting go of a college that would otherwise be a really great fit? Absolutely. But remember that wherever you go to college, you will also be letting go of colleges that are also a really good fit.
If you’re not ready to make that leap, I understand. There may be a college you really have your heart set on, and they require you to take the SAT or ACT. That’s fine, I’m not judging you. But I still believe it’s time we all—students, parents, counselors, consultants, teachers, all of us—start thinking of the SAT and/or ACT as a special opt-in circumstance, not the default that only a certain subset of students opt out of. You can go to a really great college and have a really great career and a good life without ever taking one of those exams. Think about how nice that can be.
Be safe. Be careful.
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