After four years of being test-optional, Yale University is requiring students to submit standardized test scores beginning in the Fall 2025 admission cycle. They are allowing students to submit a variety of examinations, including the SAT, ACT, Advanced Placement exams, and International Baccalaureate exams. These test scores will be considered as a part of a holistic process that takes activities, essays, recommendation letters, and transcripts into consideration.
The university claims that these examinations are necessary to confirm whether a student can handle Yale’s course load and curriculum. However, critics have been arguing that it could hurt low-income students and worsen admission chances for minority students.
Statistically speaking, according to “The Harvard Gazette,” researchers have found that there is a wide gap between wealthy and low-income students in SAT and ACT scores. The research team found that, “children of the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans were 13 times likelier than the children of low-income families to score 1300 or higher on SAT/ACT tests.” These results were due to the access of opportunities and academic preparation starting from a young age.
Children from wealthy families are able to afford attending top private schools, intensive summer courses, and access to tutors. The disparity in scores stems from the support and opportunity that wealthier families can provide for their children. However, we can overcome this by requiring public schools to provide students with additional preparation for exams and support to do well in an academic setting.
The requirement for standardized test scores should be in place, but there should also be opportunities for students to do well on these examinations. Schools should implement study programs and summer sessions without charge to teach students how to prepare for such tests. They should also supply practice exams, preparation books, and allow students to take the exam at school with a fee waiver.
This way, we can ensure that all students get a fair chance to prepare for and take the exam. Requiring exams is an important part of an application because it is the only way to compare many students’ academic performances and understand how well they can do with the same material. A transcript and grade point average can’t accurately determine how well a student does academically, because schools and teachers teach differently, set different requirements, and grade differently; based on this alone, it is hard to tell how well a student can perform in college.
Standardized tests are given to students in equal difficulty, and are graded by a computer, so there is no bias when computing scores. Additionally, exams are a very important part of many courses in college, so doing well on the SAT is a good indicator that a student can do well on college exams. Therefore, I think that colleges should require students to submit examination scores, but high schools should be required to provide the opportunity for students to prepare for these examinations.
