A High Score SAT or ACT is not a Golden Ticket

For those of you who don’t want to read this long article, here is the conclusion: 

Green Background with lightbulb and star- text Back when I was teaching after-school SAT test-prep at Prince William County high schools like Battlefield, Colgan, Patriot, and Unity Reed (formerly Stonewall), I wish I’d known what I know now.

Back when I was teaching after-school SAT test-prep at Prince William County high schools like Battlefield, Colgan, Patriot, and Unity Reed (formerly Stonewall), I wish I’d known what I know now. I wouldn’t have pushed my students to spend a good chunk of their lives prepping for multiple SAT and/or ACT tests. Too many of those students wasted time, money, and energy seeking a high score or even a perfect score only to be rejected by their “dream college.” The test prep companies, the College Board, and the ACT tell us that these tests are the key ingredient to getting into a good college. Yet, I’ve seen students with low scores get into their “dream college.” 

I will say it plain: 

High SAT or ACT scores do not guarantee a competitive advantage in college admissions. A perfect score does not guarantee a competitive advantage. These tests are not golden tickets. 

“So why are colleges admitting students with lower SAT scores over students with higher SAT scores?” 

Before starting my own tutoring company, I worked with multiple private tutoring companies. From 2014 to 2019, I worked exclusively with one company, tutoring the SAT after school at Prince William County high schools, Battlefield, Colgan, Patriot, Unity Reed (formerly Stonewall) High School. I also worked as a one-on-one tutor. I got to see all the students’ scores, for my class and other instructors’ classes. Many students stayed in touch with me, sharing their achieved SAT scores and where they were admitted, waitlisted, or denied. I also knew the SAT and ACT scores of my private clients.

Sometimes a student with a higher SAT score gained admissions over a student with a lower SAT score. But this was not always the case. 

I saw students with lower scores accepted over students who had higher scores and comparable grades, class schedules, and even similar extracurriculars, service records, jobs, etc. I continued to notice this trend when I started my own tutoring company. I couldn’t understand it.

If I knew then what I know now—after starting my own tutoring company and speaking with admissions professionals directly—I would have encouraged students to test less and focus more on activities, service, and after school and/or summer jobs, all of which allow them to shine and give admissions officers a fuller picture of who they are and what they could bring to campus. And most of all, I would have told them to focus on their grades. Admissions officers want to see four years of competitive grades in rigorous courses. 

I’ve also found more success (i.e. more acceptances and more scholarship/merit aid) by limiting the number of SAT or ACT tests to two or three unless the student is making significant progress with the test(s). I still tutor for the SAT and ACT. But I don’t let my students test, retest, and retest until a “goal score” is reached. 

The Test-Prep Machine

“All Things Being Equal, the Student with the Higher SAT or ACT score is Accepted” and Other Test-Prep Messages 

There is a saying in the test-prep world: “all things being equal, the student with the higher SAT or ACT score will be admitted.” It invokes an image of an admissions officer comparing two students, seeing that they have the same academic records, service, extracurriculars, jobs, etc. The only difference between them is the score. The student with the higher score goes into the admit pile and receives an acceptance letter. The student with the lower score gets a rejection or waitlist letter.  

In marketing messages, test-prep companies claim that if a student has a GPA that is lower than the college’s posted average, or even on the edge, a higher SAT score could give that student a boost in college admissions, possibly moving them over from the waitlist/deny pile to the admit pile.

Watch my discussion with Dean J from UVA admissions about why that doesn’t make sense here  (18:53 timestamp)

These companies also push a perfect or near-perfect SAT or ACT perfect score as a “golden ticket” that allows students to make it into the admit pile more often. This convinces individuals to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars. 

Perception Vs. Reality 

I’ve had a chance to sit down publicly and privately with a lot of admissions officers and ask them how the SAT and ACT are used. What I’ve learned is at the end of the day, colleges value four years of grades. When you think about it, doesn’t it make sense that a college cares more about the things students do for four years over a test taken on one day?

Watch my chats with admissions officers here and here

Admissions officers and enrollment professionals are aware a score can be manipulated by test prep professionals like myself. They recognize that students with a lot of resources, time, freedom, and wealth can pay to improve their scores. They also know that the tests are biased and students from diverse and low-income backgrounds and students with disabilities may have a score that does not represent their academic capabilities. Grades over four years of high school give admissions officers a fuller picture of what a student is capable of in the college classroom. 

In Pursuit of the “Goal Score” 

My students worked hard in pursuit of the goal score. Even students who improved their score after my SAT class would sign up for more expensive one-on-one tutoring for the possibility to improve their SAT score even more. The jump from hundreds for a class that lasts six to eight weeks to hundreds an hour was significant. Caretakers would rack up thousands in bills to achieve a higher score. It was not unusual for me to work with a student who retested five or six times before submitting their highest score. 

“It would be a waste to stop now. We already invested so much.” There is a point of no return for SAT and ACT test prep. A point where the pressure to spend more to reap the benefits of the investment weighs on students and caretakers. The pursuit of a higher score becomes addicting to many as they see the SAT score as the one thing in the admissions process they can control.  

Many test-prep companies realize that once someone starts paying to improve the SAT score it doesn’t make sense to stop paying until the goal score is reached. They encourage those students to keep spending money. And yet, the student could STILL be rejected while a student with a lower SAT score (who may have spent no money on test prep, or much less) is accepted. 

Are you limiting Scholarships and Merit Aid if you don’t have a high SAT or ACT score?

Test prep companies prey on students with promises of scholarship or merit aid if higher scores are secured. Sometimes there is a scholarship on the table that requires a certain SAT and/or ACT score. But even in that case I remind students and their caretakers not to get tunnel vision. 

There are test-optional and test-free colleges that DO NOT require SAT and ACT scores to award merit aid (tuition discounts) or scholarships. There are private scholarships out there that don’t require scores. In fact, sometimes a quick conversation with the scholarship committee results in the score requirement being waived. This is not the case for scholarships such as Bright Futures or National Merit Scholarships, but it can be the case for comparable scholarships. 

Who shouldn’t take the SAT or ACT 

First and foremost, if you live in California—the land of test-free—and have no plan to go out of state, and all the colleges on your list do not require SAT or ACT scores, I wouldn’t bother with the test at all. 

If you have a history of testing anxiety or emotional distress, and/or every time your test scores come back they do not reflect your academic capabilities—I’d opt-out. If you are a student with a disability and the College Board and/or ACT won’t give you proper accommodations—then do not test. Don’t waste your time fighting the system. If someone won’t provide you accommodations so you can succeed, don’t submit to their test. 

My Test-Prep Philosophy in the Test-Optional World 

I cut students off after two or three tests unless there is compelling evidence that the SAT/ACT is going to significantly improve. If the student hasn’t achieved a goal score after two or three tests, then the focus shifts to finding them the right academic opportunities or college classes, internships/jobs that will allow them to highlight their strengths rather than focus on their test that doesn’t present them in the best light.  These are opportunities that showcase their skills and sometimes determine if they are truly interested in their desired field of study.  I do this rather than pushing forward with additional SAT/ACT testing that eats up their time and adds little value to their admissions profile.

My students who spent less time prepping for the SAT or ACT and spent more time exploring their academic or outside interests tended to be accepted more often and receive more scholarship and merit aid (tuition discount) offers. They have gotten into the most competitive, highly selective/rejective colleges in the country with no SAT/ACT scores or even lower SAT/ACT scores than their peers.

What I recommend for students

1. Take the SAT/ACT see what you score 

2. Contact the college to see what their SAT/ACT range is 

3.  Ask the test-optional questions to see if test-optional is a good fit for your students (see those here https://www.jennthetutor.com/blog/testoptionalquestions

4. Take no more than two to three tests. If your score does not improve after three, apply test-optional or test-free where possible and pursue scholarships that don’t require SAT or ACT scores.

5. If you keep seeing score improvements AND test-prep is not getting in the way of other meaningful activities, feel free to keep going.

Additional Perspectives

Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Higher Ed Dive, The SAT will be delivered Digitally in the U.S. Starting in 2024

Akil Bello, Should I take the test or not

Akil Bello, Forbes, The College Board Announces the Best SAT since the Last SAT

Jon Boeckenstedt, Final Thoughts on SAT

Eric Hoover and Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education, When The SAT Feels Like a Lock, Not a Key

Anna Ivey, When Test-Optional Isn’t Really Test-Optional

Lexi McMenamin, Teen Vogue, The SAT is Going Digital, Getting Shorter

Mariana Viera, Teen Vogue, The History of the SAT is Mired in Racism and Elitism

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