![High school students nationwide are in the hands of universities that determine one’s academic worth through the scanning of a sheet of bubbled paper. [Creative Commons]](http://www.jstudentboard.com/reporter/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Satire.jpg)
Standardized testing.
Colleges, private schools, and universities all use a single number to evaluate our academic intelligence, despite that this number comes from a computer that scans a single sheet of paper with a bunch of darkened bubbles scattered here and there. Really reliable, I know.
But, it’s truly a requirement—Harvard won’t even look at your application if it doesn’t see that you obtained at least a 2400 on the SAT (out of 2400). Stanford won’t even consider reading the rest of your application if they see that your SAT II scores aren’t at least an 800 (out of 800). Princeton might consider your application if they see that you at least tried to make some sort of effort by getting a 6 (out of 5) on every AP exam. (It’s still not satisfactory unless you find a cure for cancer too).
I hear that San Jose State is a little more forgiving.
Standardized tests are supposed to measure how “great” your knowledge is on topics of English, math, science, history, language, and the arts.
This is especially great because for English, one must learn pretentious vocabulary words such as “garrulous” or “clemency.” Colleges don’t even have a pinch of clemency and are full of useless garrulousness about how they “consider other parts of the application other than standardized test scores.”
Math problems are full of words which look identical to the English section.
Science is a necessity because the only topics being tested on are biology, chemistry, psychology, and physics. Of course, other “sciences” geared towards the political side are deemed unnecessary since Congress, full of people who studied political science, decided to issue standardized tests.
History is a must; because, scientists in America are required to know the exact date of when the French and Indian War happened.
Foreign languages get rid of cultural barriers, especially because the College Board only assesses nine different languages. (There’s about 6,500 languages spoken in this world.)
Arts are the least limited. There is 2D/3D art, art history, and music theory. (Sculptures, criticisms, calligraphy, photography, singing, and music are as of no importance.)
The diversity is great. I might even request to add an AP “Take care of yourself” test too.
“There’s really no point in standardized tests because it [makes] students stress over numbers too much when [the tests] don’t even assess school knowledge,” Rena Zhong, junior at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, told JSR.
These tests are usually given multiple times each year on specific dates. If you’re sick and fall ill, then there’s a likely chance that you can retake the test. People with test anxiety don’t get second chances. People who overthink don’t get second chances. People who have been taking written tests a majority of their life, and suddenly given multiple choice tests don’t get second chances.
Again, colleges don’t have clemency, but they sure do have what it takes to drive students to the point of insanity. Wherever I go, I hear students even in middle school taking prep classes outside of school to get that 2400. Even though these tests are supposed to be a measurement of what you learn at school.
In an interview with JSR, Jonathan Han, sophomore at St. Michael’s University School, says, “Standardized testing is highly skewed towards those who have the resources to afford the expensive books and tutors that facilitate high scores. It’s not very fair.”
I would prefer that standardized test scores should not be considered for college admission. Actually, colleges should really just get rid of the whole “multiple choice” strategy for some other method. Until then, these chains are the only means used by the corrupt and broken Ivy Leagues.
Start getting comfortable.
