There has been ample confusion among students and parents ever since the College Board made submission of SAT scores optional from Fall 2022. To those that viewed SAT as a burden, this seemed like great news. To understand whether this feeling of triumph is justified, we must first understand why the colleges made this decision in the first place.
The SAT has always been a controversial exam, with several universities and colleges, much before the pandemic, making it optional. While the reasons vary, the one that stands out is the cost of SAT preparation – it can run into thousands of dollars – a situation which directly put low-income students at a severe disadvantage. Alongside this, these colleges felt the SAT was an unfair test to gauge college readiness. While the debate still rages, SAT is making a strong comeback. Only the University of California forbids students from submitting SAT scores as of now.
Let’s get back to 2022 and why many colleges made the SAT optional, including the highly competitive ones. One must understand that the public schools in all the states in the United States are the only option for a high school education for low-income students. And, while the College Board has teamed up with different states to waive the SAT test fee, the preparation itself became a mountainous hurdle for many students, after Covid forced a shutdown of all schools. Even the libraries, where one could find SAT resources, were closed. These families did not even have proper internet connection to take advantage of free SAT preparation on the Web. The only solution for the colleges was to make SAT optional in the admissions process.
However, none of these barriers applied to international students. Why? Because, if a foreign student was willing to spend upwards of $200,000 for a four-year education, he or she could surely find ways to get trained on SAT and afford the SAT exam fee. Sure, SAT was made optional for all applicants, domestic and international, but Uwezo Learning’s position has not wavered from day one: Take the SAT, get a good score and submit it. It can only help. It should be noted that some universities, even in 2022, insisted on SAT scores for admission. Georgia Tech and MIT are two good examples.
We are in 2024 now. Starting last year itself, many colleges brought back SAT as a required criterion in the admissions process. Today, more and more universities are asking for SAT or ACT scores. This camp believes that SAT or ACT is still a good predictor of a student’s ability to succeed in college. Mind you, beyond admission, SAT scores are used for scholarships and grants. Since many students, particularly U.S citizens and permanent residents, depend on some type of financial aid, the importance of SAT cannot be discounted.
What is a good SAT score, one might ask. There’s no simple answer as it depends on the college to which you’re applying. However, it’s safe to say that a 1400 or higher SAT score is respectable – along with good academics and extracurriculars. If you consider the Ivies or other equally or more competitive schools such as MIT, Stanford, Rice, Chicago or Duke, then a 1550 or above could end up being the minimum score considered. Take heart, though. There are several colleges in the USA that are equally good and do not require a 1550 or a 4.0 GPA. This topic will be addressed in a different blog.
So, whether a university declares the SAT score as optional or not, Uwezo Learning’s expert advice is that a student work hard, get as high an SAT score as possible – having an idea about the colleges can help you target the desired score – and submit the score. As already mentioned, depending on how competitive a school is, anything between a 1400 and 1600 should encourage you to send the score.
