Graphic by Dina Kats
Josh Walensky
News Section Editor
On January 19th, 2021, College Board announced the cancellation of all SAT subject tests this school year, in addition to the cancellation of the SAT Essay section starting after June. These cancellations were aimed at the goal to mitigate the number of test dates and lengths, thus preventing the spread of COVID-19. In addition, as fewer colleges have been requiring these tests each year, scrapping them was also a profitable choice for College Board. Regardless of the circumstances, this news took many students by surprise, as a vast majority had planned to either take subject tests, the essay section, or both.
SAT subjects tests, also known as SAT IIs, are tests that students take with the hope to prove their excellence in a particular subject, showing content fluency and strength. Some SAT IIs focused on subjects such as mathematics, US history, chemistry, and much more. The cancellation of these additional tests leaves students with just the SAT or the ACT to show their academic expertise under the scope of standardized testing.
In addition, the purpose of the SAT essay section was to assess students’ abilities of analytical writing skills, perception of evidence, knowledge of rhetorical technique, and more. This additional section of the SAT was once optional but will be fully scrapped at the end of June. In some previous circumstances, colleges and certain programs required submission of the essay section and/or subject tests. However, the number of colleges requiring these tests has significantly dwindled in recent years.
Some students are concerned that these cancellations mean fewer opportunities to show their academic worth. Junior Shanae Venter, who planned to take the Math II and US history subject tests, feels both relief and worry regarding the news.
“I’m glad I won’t need to study, but a bit nervous because now I’ve lost the ‘edge’ of taking the optional tests… it also puts more stress on my SAT score for the English/Reading and Math sections,” said Venter.
Despite some students’ unease, College and Career Counselor Kathleen Sabet urges students not to worry and even explains the positivity in the news.
“With very few colleges that actually required it—MIT was the last hold out but dropped it last spring—the impact on admissions decisions has been and will be minimal. For students, it potentially means less testing needed which is a good thing in my opinion,” said Sabet.
Sabet also hopes for students to understand the more important components of the college admissions process, especially amidst the Coronavirus pandemic: “Colleges will likely continue to place the most weight on the high school transcript. This year, with the pandemic and the lack of testing and test takers, colleges have implemented test-optional, test blind, or test flexible policies. For schools which were already test-optional or test blind prior to the pandemic, they would argue that reviewing applications with no scores has made for a better [and more] holistic view of an applicant.”
As the nullification of these tests sprouts many questions among students, especially during a year of considerable changes, one thing remains certain: students should continue striving for achievement and progression.
“Keep working hard in your classes because that is what matters the most as a predictor of success in college,” said Sabet.
