There are lots of silly things that students — and parents — say when they’re applying to college. But nothing drives me crazier than this particular excuse:
Say what? Look, I understand the SAT isn’t a perfect test. And neither is the ACT. Fact is, there probably isn’t a “perfect test” for college admissions. But wow, this is just infuriating. You know what? We give tests in college. And you’re probably going to have to do well on them. In fact, you’ve had the last twelve or thirteen years to become “a good test taker.”
Now, I’m not going to come down on a student with a legitimate learning disability or physical disability that would interfere with their test-taking skills, or hinder their success in a timed-test environment like the SAT. But “some people just aren’t good test takers,” which is what I heard today, makes me just want to run to my big red “denied” stamp. It reeks of laziness.
And it’s bad enough when it comes from a student, but it’s worse when it comes from a parent. I hope the student whose parent I spoke with today would have been horrified that his or her parent told me that.
Again — I’m not talking about disabilities. We have a process in place for that; if you have a recognized disability, we’re more than happy to work with you, and we’ll look beyond a low standardized test score to give you every chance for success at Stony Brook.
I also understand that a single test on a Saturday morning may not be the best indicator of future success; if you’re a straight-A student who bombed the SAT, then maybe there’s something there. Yes, there’s more to your educational history, and more to your college application, than tests; but you have to show me something, not fall back on the “bad test-taker” excuse.
I apologize for the rant on a holiday weekend, but I guess there were a lot of frustrations coming out in this one comment. Don’t give me excuses for your performance; show me results. (It’s like the other age-old question… would we prefer a “C” in an honors/AP course, or an “A” in a regular course? Actually, we’d prefer an “A” in an honors/AP course.) It’s about your complete academic record, which includes testing. If you did poorly on the ACT, try the SAT (or vice versa). Take it more than once; we’ll take the best score. Try a test-prep course; I’m not necessarily a fan, but I’m sure they work for some people. There are lots of ways to offset a bad standardized test score… blowing it off is not one of them.