As students and colleges alike adapt to a college admissions process in the wake of a global pandemic, the organization that produces the SAT announced last Tuesday it would no longer offer subject tests or the optional essay section.
College Board characterized this change as one accelerated by the pandemic and made to “reduce and simplify demands on students.”
The move follows financial challenges faced by the testing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which most colleges waived standardized testing requirements for applicants and the majority of spring testing dates were canceled. Even before the pandemic, subject tests and essays weren’t prioritized by most colleges or students.
Canceling the subject tests and essay, then, seemed like a “decision long in the making,” said Chatham Central school counselor Sandra Young.
“I think this is a fantastic move that makes sense for many reasons,” she said in an email to the News + Record, adding that the essay portion was never something colleges really focused on during the admissions process. SAT essay topics didn’t tell colleges anything about the student, and most colleges started adding their own essay questions to their applications, according to Young.
“Because of the pandemic, I personally think this brought their decision long in the making to end the essay portion of the SAT sooner than later,” she said. “With testing challenges and lack of space for large group testing sites, you sometimes have to make decisions in the best interest of the student. Then you ask yourself, does it make sense to have fewer spots for the SAT & the SAT subject tests, or do you only offer the SAT?”
Taking the essay portion of the SAT was also more expensive, Young added, and not registering for it cut testing time down from 230 minutes to 180. Opening all testing spots for the main SAT exam, rather than holding some for the less popular subject tests, she said, also better accommodated testing challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Other examples in the state, she said, included offering credentials in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses instead of state exams to show course knowledge, as well as ending North Carolina State Final Exams for many high school courses.
Still, some critics saw the changes to the SAT as a means of placing greater importance on Advanced Placement tests, which the board also produces — rather than to streamline the process for students, as College Board portrayed the decision.
The main SAT consists of two sections, one for math and the other for reading and writing. Students have also been able to take subject tests to show specific mastery of other subjects — a testing option the College Board says has been overshadowed by the popularity of A.P. exams.
“The expanded reach of AP and its widespread availability for low-income students and students of color means the Subject Tests are no longer necessary for students to show what they know,” the College Board said last week.
In addition to logistical challenges faced during the pandemic, the move also follows years of emerging evidence that standardized college placement exams exacerbate socioeconomic and racial inequities.
In May, after a lawsuit from a group of Black and Hispanic students claimed the SAT discriminated against them, the University of California system decided to phase out the standardized SAT and ACT test requirements for its 10 schools, the New York Times reported.
“The SAT and the subject exams are dying products on their last breaths, and I’m sure the costs of administering them are substantial,” Jon Boeckenstedt, the vice provost for enrollment management at Oregon State University, told the Times.
In Chatham, Young said credits earned by high school students for college-level classes essentially serve the same purpose as subject tests. Still, she did say that some ESL students took subject tests in math and science, since those exams did not focus on English language mastery (as the main SAT does).
“This would be a disadvantage for this population,” she said.
This year, most colleges waived their standardized testing requirements — namely the ACT and SAT — as many students had not yet taken the tests before the coronavirus struck in March, canceling the remaining scheduled tests that semester. In December, CCS high school seniors told the News + Record this move was a relief to them, though it placed more emphasis on their essays.
“Most of us weren’t able to take the ACT or the SAT, which I guess helped our admissions a lot,” Jordan-Matthews senior Kevin Manzanarez said. “Most of the focus was on our essays — we really had to focus on the essays more than anything this year, to give it all we had to show who we really are.”
In its Tuesday announcement, the College Board said it was investing in a “streamlined, digitally delivered test” to adapt to testing limits brought by the pandemic. The College Board did not specify a timeline to implement such a test.
As the pandemic continues, Young said she predicts colleges will still encourage students to take placement exams if possible, though many stopped using them as part of their admissions criteria.
“For admittance, colleges will focus more on the essay questions on the applications and the student’s transcript,” she said. “It will be important for students to continue to take rigorous courses in high school and find creative ways to serve in their local community and school during a time that is unique. I think this will be a better way for colleges to look at the whole student, than just a test score and class rank.”
Reporter Hannah McClellan can be reached at hannah@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @HannerMcClellan.