By Mucteba Gokcek
On January 19th, College Board announced the permanent cancellation of all Subject Tests in the United States, with the SAT Essay following suite after June 2021. College Board made these changes in order to reduce ¨demands on students¨, and since there is a more widespread availability of AP tests, they believe it is unnecessary to continue making subject tests. This change brings us to one important conclusion: that AP test scores are the second most important score behind the SAT. AP tests and Subject Tests were always very similar, so instead of taking and studying for Subject Tests, students should now focus more on their AP classes and study for the AP test. Subject Tests will continue to be administered for international students up until June 2021 because of the lack of AP tests outside the U.S.
The cancellation of the SAT Essay also comes with its own reasons. This is reportedly because of ¨changing needs of students and colleges¨ and to create better opportunities for students to show that they can write well through more relevant opportunities.
Many administrators and counselors believe that the SAT has “outlived its usefulness.” It no longer provides an accurate distinction between students because how well a student does on a test usually depends on how long they were able to study. Additionally, the cost of the books, tutors, and the actual test also costs hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars, putting low-income families behind. Therefore, it isn’t an accurate representation of a student’s potential and capabilities.
