Are the SAT or ACT Exams Actually Required for New York College Admission?
In 2022, more than 1.7 million high school students in the United States took the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and another 1.3 million took the alternative standardized test, the American College Test (ACT) with dreams of high scores to help them gain college admission.
The purpose of taking the SAT and ACT exams is to measure the college readiness and academic achievement of a student ahead of them going to college but, do New York colleges require to see those exam scores before acceptance?
The answer isn't completely cut and dry and it depends on the educational institution as there there is no blanket rule across the board with all colleges in New York.
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For instance, any student wishing to apply for admission to a SUNY bachelor's degree-granting college in the fall of 2023, or during the spring and summer 2024 terms will not be required to supply their SAT or ACT scores as SUNY has temporarily suspended the testing requirements. However, if a student has taken the SAT or ACT and wants to share their test results, they are welcome to.
According to Best Colleges, Ivy League schools in New York now allow students the option of whether or not to submit their standardized test scores when applying for college. However, there are still colleges in New York that do require SAT and ACT exam results. To be sure whether or not the college you or your student is interested in attending requires SAT or ACT scores, you will need to contact the college directly.
The idea of doing away with standardized testing has been a hot topic for the last few years with many in favor of getting rid of the SAT and ACT exams completely. In 2022, the average SAT score was 1050 which is the lowest average test score since the format of the test changed in 2016. The highest possible score for the SAT is 1600 and the highest possible score for the ACT is 36.
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Others in favor of ending the requirement of test scores for college tuition say that the testing is unfair for students in households where their parents do not have high school diplomas because those students tend to score lowest on the SAT exam while students with parents who have graduate degrees score the highest. Additionally, students who live in households with lower-educated parents tend to not have the resources to study for the exams and sometimes, the exam fee cannot be paid by parents in lower-income homes so it is not taken.
Harry Feder, a former public school teacher and attorney and now the Executive Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing is an expert in performance assessment and says the tests should be "de-emphasized." "Standardized test scores do not measure academic ‘merit.’ What they do assess quite accurately is family wealth, but that should not be the criteria for getting into college.”
Anyone interested in taking the SAT exam must register to do so by April 7.