The following article introduces an international perspective to standardized testing, which is increasingly being required for college applications.
The worst time of year is here for all rising high school seniors: preparing college applications. And with that, standardized testing becomes increasingly important for students to demonstrate their academic excellence. Grade inflation concerns many admission officers, so the solution to show how “smart” you are on a clear scale is by taking the SAT or ACT. And as a German, I’m bad at both tests.
You see, I have an American father, but my mother is German. I was born and raised in America, but my mother sent me to a German school to preserve my German heritage. Besides my small class size, the schooling is just the same as those in Germany: we have teachers from Germany, speak German in classes, follow the German curriculum, and follow Germany’s testing traditions. And in German testing, you will never see a multiple choice question, no matter what the subject is. Everything is essays. Or, in math or science classes, you solve the problem on paper and your work is evaluated as a whole, not necessarily just by your final answer. That’s how I was raised, and I’m good at that sort of schooling. That type of testing is what I’m used to, and I’m a regular A-scoring student out of my 12 subjects.
So now, as I am applying to colleges in the US and try to stand out from the thousands of other applicants, it’s extremely difficult for me to do so with low standardized testing scores. It’s not because I’m lacking the knowledge for the topics, though. I just have been trained to test a completely different way for the past twelve years of my life, since that is simply how my culture (German) tests.
Therefore, amidst colleges trying to even out the playing field for all, it’s still a biased testing method. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that requiring SAT/ ACT scores come with all good intentions. But while that may be true for American schooled students, where standardized testing is part of American schooling culture, it’s extremely different for me (also an American) to integrate myself and show my full potential with a completely different testing background. And I’m sure other students with different testing backgrounds have similar experiences.
I know other Germans who have gone through similar experiences. Two people I know who wanted to study politics at the University of Oxford didn’t pass the university’s required test, which is partially multiple choice, but were perfect students in Germany’s environment.
The reasoning behind switching between submitting required and optional standardized testing scores is complex: many segments are involved. From my understanding from previous discussions around standardized testing, equity has been the forefront of these conversations; usually in relation to racial and economic equity. But let’s not forget internationally schooled students interested in joining American colleges.
If you’re a good multiple-choice tester-- that’s great! In fact, for future application processes I suggest colleges continue to welcome standardized testing scores. Students who wish to demonstrate their excellence in their standardized testing should feel encouraged to do so. But don’t assume anything about my academic capabilities if I don’t submit my scores either. Just please understand, dear colleges, that by requiring or favoring standardized tests in applications, you may unintentionally disadvantage international students, or, students with a different schooling background.
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