College Applications are in season, and SAT scores are not required.

But many students still think that how they did on the SAT test is important.  According to a survey of 100 Morton East seniors, 44 claimed that standardized testing had an impact on their college applications.  According to Chat GPT, Standardized testing, a method of assessment built on the principle of consistency, requires all test takers to respond to the same questions, with all answers graded in a predetermined manner. This form of testing has been created to the American education system since the mid-1800s. Despite attributing most failures within this system to factors such as poverty levels, teacher quality, and tenure policies, the pervasive use of standardized tests has increasingly been ethic Horace Mann, considered the Father of Standardized Testing in the U.S., served as the secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education from 1837-1848. Before 1845, oral examinations were the predominant means of measuring educational attainment in American schools. The L.A.B. (Learn, Assess, Build) perspective regards standardized testing as only one component of a student’s profile, providing teachers with a snapshot of each child’s strengths and challenges

“Now that testing is not required from most colleges, it opens more opportunities because I didn’t get the best score, I feel like it doesn’t adequately show a student’s potential to succeed in this school and college,” senior Jacquelyn Leon said.

Many opportunities arise now that college admissions aren’t based off of standardized testing.

“I think standardized testing is only good for some aspects, like as a general grasp of what students know and what areas they can improve on, but I don’t believe it’s what it should be based on for college admission,” senior Giselle Espino said.

Many say that testing is only good for certain areas, but it doesn’t reflect the student’s knowledge.

“I think the difference for them is less pressure although the SAT is an Illinois state gradate requirement scores on the sat don’t reflect the ability of our students so if they have a school that’s not required, then their grades can speak for themselves, you might have a student who has a great GPA but didn’t score high on the SAT, and that puts a lot of pressure on the student to do better which at times it’s unhealthy pressure for the student,” assistant principal JoAnne Rzadski said.

Due to the pressure it unmotivated many students.

“It unmotivated me because I honestly thought that they would think that I wouldn’t be able to uphold these classes and I honestly know that I know the material and I could do this it just made me nervous because I didn’t know if they think I can do that or just paranoid that they would think I’m not a good student,” senior Yarixsa Alanis said.

Demotivation could be worse if new tests were to be implemented.

“No new tests should implemented since most school are test optional there should be no need to require any new tests that would just confuse everyone,” senior Mariah Hernandez said.

So, when should students think about reporting their SAT scores in their college applications?

“If your transcripts are amazing and you have a great GPA and have been successful in school, but your test scores are below average then I say don’t send the test scores because the 4-year transcripts is a better reflection than a 4 hour test,” Counselor Patrisha O’Neill said.

Last year’s average SAT score was 1028 according to collegeboard.org