#TestOptionalCollegeDay: Standardize Tests and Global Pandemics Don't Mix #TestOptional Now
I do not know what it is like to be asked to take a standardized test or end of the year exam during a global pandemic; none of us do. We do not know the impact the request to move forward with schooling online will have on our students. However, I caution educators and admissions professionals to consider the long-term psychological and possibly traumatizing effect of pressuring or mandating students to take exams and standardized tests- especially the SAT and ACT- during a global pandemic. It is time to put an end to unnecessary testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time to demand colleges create test-optional policies.
While I do not know what it is like to be asked to take a standardized test during a pandemic, I do know what it is like to be asked to take final exams in the middle of a traumatic period. I know this because I took my law school finals right after the Virginia Tech Massacre. On April 16, 2007, I woke up to a windy day and had a typical day until I heard the news of a shooting at my undergraduate alma mater Virginia Tech. By the end of the day, five people I knew briefly while at Virginia Tech had been killed. The shock of losing five people I partied with, hung out with, went to meetings or classes with was too much. I took a leave of absence. However, in late April, early May, I returned to take exams.
Amid chaos and grieving, I returned to UVA Law school and sat with my peers to take an exam. It felt utterly pointless, and yet at the time, I believed it was essential. I sacrificed myself to pursue my academic goals. I was incapable of producing my best work. It was too much pressure to take on during a time where I was fragile. Everyone had my best interest at heart and wanted what was “right” for me, but no one thought about the long term damage of adding the stress of preparing for a test while grieving a mass shooting. Unnecessary stress does not mix well with trauma.
By saying no one thought of the long-term damage, I include myself in that equation. I was the one that ultimately agreed to take the exams. There were times I knew it was the wrong choice, but I was conditioned to believe that you “just need to get back to normal” and “back into the routine.” I pressured myself to study because I did not want to let “all my hard work go to waste.”
Ultimately, I prioritize my grades over my health. It was short-sighted. The choice to take two of my five exams so close to the tragedy was a mistake. I was scheduled to take three exams initially and do the final two during the summer, but I could not get through all three initially. I stopped after two. My advisor told me I needed to get a doctor to tell her I could not take the 3rd immediately or… it was not clear what would happen next. Honestly, I did not care, my doctor signed off quickly and I never learned what would have happened if I had not taken the 3rd exam immediately.
I pushed myself through the summer to finish the rest. I worked hard to get those grades, I had to push aside my grief to get those grades. I cannot tell you what grades I ended up getting or even what was on those exams. It was all a haze. I was over-medicated and depressed/anxious. I wasted time and energy over those exams while I should have been grieving, healing, and avoiding unnecessary stress.
It was a burden I did not have to bear. I wish someone had said, “now is not the time for this," or “none of this is as important as your mental health.” I made everyone believe this was a choice that was in my best interest. I put on a brave face to pursue a grade that ultimately did not matter and did not impact my career. Everyone gave me the support I was asking for them to give at the time. We all believed we were operating in my best interest right now. But I now realize the support I asked for was not the support I needed. My advisors and professors supported me; none of them told me that my exams should not be my top priority. Had someone said that even once to me, maybe I would have listened. Perhaps I would have avoided the trauma that came from taking these exams during one of the worse days of my life.
As I write this, it feels like all the air has escaped my lungs. My chest is tight; I am fighting back tears. The trauma never left me. Sometimes I can bury it; other times, it buries me.
What I learned from my experience is taking an exam during a crisis isn’t a wise or healthy choice for most students. You cannot ask a student to take an exam during a crisis without asking them to take on a psychological burden.
Some students can bear that burden and move forward. Others cannot. You do not know who will be traumatized by the burden until after the fact. It is not worth the risk or the possibility of harm.
Students have been conditioned to believe an SAT or ACT score “matters” and are willing to compromise their mental health or, in the case of COVID-19, their physical health to get a competitive edge. In fact, compromising your mental/physical health to get more points on the SAT/ACT is seen as just a part of the process. It is a right of passage.
Some students will take these exams and will be “fine,” whatever that means. There will be others who say, “I am ready" and “I want to take the test," like I did, and will later realize the stress of preparing for a test during a global pandemic was too much for them to take on.
Right now students are stressed about having to leave school, transition to online learning, and they are surviving a global pandemic. Are we to believe their test scores during this time are a reflection of their true academic capabilities?
Some students without internet or resources or special education accommodations do not have the support they need. Is it fair to ask them to step up, grind their way through it, and “figure it out?”
We know stress puts an unnecessary strain on the immune system. We know all students will benefit from a healthy immune system if they become diagnosed with COVID-19. We know test prep is incredibly stressful, yet we are asking students to take on unnecessary stress to preserve an inequitable system of college admissions. Is that worth the cost?
If the numbers surrounding this pandemic are to be believed, we are about to start seeing mass casualties. Some of these students preparing and stressing about SAT/ACT scores may, become ill or watch their family or friends become ill. Do we expect them to keep going after that point? Will we let them reschedule or opt-out so they can heal from COVID-19 and grieve?
Is a SAT score or ACT score so important that we are willing to possibly compromise our students? Is an acceptance letter really more important than our students? Is now the time for unnecessary stress?
Asking colleges to adopt test-optional policies is not just the right thing to do; it’s the humane thing to do. It will ensure our students can focus on what matters: SURVIVAL. Test optional does not prevent students who want to apply with a SAT or ACT score from submitting. Most test-optional policies allow students who wish to send scores to send if they feel it will benefit their application. Test-optional just will enable students who think it is not in their best interest to take a test or who think their score doesn’t reflect their capabilities to opt-out of the SAT/ACT process for application purposes.
Students should not be forced to take an SAT or ACT during a pandemic. They should not be asked to give up their dreams for higher education because of COVID-19. Presenting test-optional to students now allows them to take a moment to lift off the stress of college admissions and decide whether taking the test is the right move for their situation. Students will not feel pressured to continue with test prep if they think it is causing unnecessary stress or if they need to prioritize their mental or physical health.
It is time for colleges to put their students first and allow students to have the option to submit their application without an SAT/ACT score if that is what is in their best interest.
It is time for the colleges and universities holding out and refusing to create test-optional policies in the age of a COVID-19 to be held accountable. To those colleges and universities, I ask this:
How much will we ask students to sacrifice for the sake of college admissions?
Is that sacrifice worth it?
Are we willing to continue to sacrifice students' health and well-being physically and mentally for admissions?
How much is a test score worth?
Should we ask students to compromise their immune system, take on the stress and possibly trauma so they can receive a coveted admissions letter?
Final question (5 minutes left- make sure you fill in all bubbles): Is an SAT/ACT score so valuable to the college admissions process that it is worth risking a student’s health and well-being?
Pencils down… end of the examination.
Learn more about Student Voice’s #testoptionalnow movement here: https://www.stuvoice.org/updates/testoptionalnow-universities-covid-19
Read Jon Boeckenstedt’s Blog on #TestoptionalCollegeDay here: https://jonboeckenstedt.net/2020/02/01/a-proposal-march-25th-is-test-optional-day/ and his thoughts on the SAT/ACT here: https://jonboeckenstedt.net/2020/01/10/some-final-thoughts-on-the-sat-and-act/