College Entrance Exams Should Still Matter

To the Editor:
Pretty soon, one will need only a normal blood pressure to gain acceptance to a gang of colleges that are thinking of giving a candidate the option of either presenting SAT scores or simply responding to about five short essay questions in the admissions process.
Colleges are in business, and they need to keep freshmen coming in order keep their faculties employed. Now, many marginal candidates will be given a chance to attend a college where they normally would have been rejected. I’m savvy enough to understand that board scores alone are no true indicator that one has the real stuff to complete four years of a tough program on the college level. But when board scores, along with grade point average, maturity and recommendations are all examined together, that will give admissions officials a better insight into risk factors.
I came from a background where no one in my family or any relatives ever went to college. My parents spoke Italian at home. My neighborhood housed blue-collar workers, and there was an attitude existing there that didn’t encourage college for us young ones. It was considered “uppity” to see college as your next move after high school.
I studied my tail off to prepare for SATs. I worked hard to prepare for GREs and LSATs. My test-taking skills were shaky at best, but I knew that these tests were hurdles I needed to face in my pursuit of a college education. I did what I had to do. No short cuts.
This move to lessen the importance of qualifying board scores is a dangerous precedent. I don’t believe that I would engage the services of a lawyer who had the option of a few short essays or LSATs to gain acceptance to law school, nor would I sit in the office of any physician who was given the chance to duck MCATs in order to gain entrance to medical school.
Kids today like to say, “It is what it is.” SATs have been used for decades as a measurement, and they should still be utilized as part of the total backdrop to all candidates who feel that a college degree is absolutely essential in their lives.