Lauren Pacicco ’22
The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) has been under scrutiny and was subject to adjustments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The SAT is a standardized test that assesses students’ academic ability to enter universities and colleges across the United States. College Board, the nonprofit that owns and develops the test, has developed a practical, comprehensive test that covers everything that a student should have learned throughout their years in high school, crucial for college applicants. According to the College Board, over 8 million students take this standardized test each year. This test allows students to apply for scholarships, gain national recognition, and place into higher classes once in college. This year, however, the educational system was shaken to its core by the development of the COVID-19 virus that impacted the last three and a half months of high schools across the world. The United States took a hard hit from the virus that resulted in governors shutting down their states and issuing stay-at-home orders that prohibited people from doing anything deemed “unnecessary.” These orders hindered the students’ ability to take the exam, as they were prohibited from being in-person to take it. Most of those affected were members of the Class of 2021 and 2022.
The SAT readjusted their plans for the next few years. Many colleges are now test-optional for applicants, meaning the SAT will not be required for acceptance. This option relieves some of the stress of being exposed to other anxious students in a testing room for four hours. Testing facilities are encouraged to offer more days to take the SAT and to cut down on the number of students taking the test at once. The SAT still has challenges, given that more students will choose to not submit or take tests, but it’s far from the end for the age-old exam.