With so much emphasis on test scores as a factor of admissions, it is no wonder eager high school students are turning to test prep programs, both free and paid, to get a leg up on this portion of the admissions process. Testing programs are a multi billion dollar institution and students may spend thousands of dollars in resources and courses. But does this donate an unfair advantage to those who are more affluent? Research points to a small positive gain of about 30 points on the SAT (http://www.nacacnet.org/) as a result of test prep programs (so don't be fooled by companies claiming to increase your score by 300 points!). And many test programs are free. The internet is riddled with free programs. Local libraries frequently stock books on test preparation. So, unless the paid coaching is markedly better at obtaining those 30 points, throwing a lot of money at test prep may not be the best use of money and might be perceived as more of a luxury than a necessity. What cannot be disputed is that exposure to the test, simply getting familiar with the test layout and material as well as a testing environment, can help students. If anything, the psychological impact of being familiar and feeling prepared can lower anxiety which may increase performance. Also, or perhaps because of these reasons, students taking the test the second time tend to see a slight gain. I argue that it isn't so much about an advantage as a call to the purpose - and the product - of this whole testing thing. Research is starting to suggest that performance on the SAT is not a predictor of college success; rather it is more closely a predictor of freshman year grades, if anything. Why, then, is so much weight in the admissions process lent to this tool? Surely there is a better way to correlate with future college success? Examine the table below which shows 18 years of ACT data. Notice two trends: First, the number of students obtaining a perfect score on the test has gone up a whopping 19 times while the total number taking the test has only doubled. Similarly, the percentage of students with a perfect score, which used to be unheard of, has increased by a factor of 10. Assuming that the test hasn't become dramatically easier or our schools significantly better, we must attribute this to one thing: the effects of test prep programs. Since 1997, testing has certainly been a major factor in admissions, so the importance of the test has likely not increased (if anything, it is possible that the weight given to high test scores is diminishing when other factors of admission are also favorable).
Is the problem with the test? Some would say it should be coachable, just as teachers are there to teach students the curriculum, and better teachers can deliver more. No, perhaps it is in the institution itself. College admissions takes on such a competitive tone that anything considered a factor in admissions is going to be effected. We, educators/colleges, should keep in mind that students are more than just a sum of their scores, and that if these tests do not really predict college success, we need not emphasize them beyond many other components.
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AuthorOlder blog posts were for the UCLA Ext course "Using the Internet for College Counseling" Archives
February 2023
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