How Important Is Standardized Testing For College?

One of the most frequent questions we get at Empowerly is how important standardized testing is for college admissions. Specifically, many students ask us about the SAT, ACT, and overall GPA. In this article, we will break down the frequently asked questions about standardized tests, the academic index, and ways to think about academics as a whole.

To start things off, we'll answer some of the most requested questions we receive. The theme they all have in common relates to how important standardized testing truly is! To make sure you know what you're working with, let's dig in.

This is by far the most common question we are asked related to standardized exams. The truth is it does not matter. Truly. We have spoken to dozens of college admissions officers and an overwhelming majority are frustrated that students think the way to gain an edge in admissions is to take one or the other.

Students often ask us how many times is the optimal number. The most we recommend is 3 attempts. After that, it appears to us and to admissions officers that you are taking the test too many times and should focus your energy on switching tests, your activities, and your grades.

We recommend students take at least 3 months in between tests to get adequate time to prepare. In our experience, raising your score significantly in less time than that is possible but not highly probable. Consistent practice, practice across books and types of tests (difficulty), and timed exams are really helpful.

Usually, students will try switching after they have attempted one exam (SAT or ACT) once or twice and are not getting scores they like. Sometimes they are tired of the test and want to try something new.

Many students think switching will drastically affect their scores. On some websites like College Confidential, students insist that certain tests give certain types of students advantages. For example, for students weaker in English the ACT is a better test. In our experience, we have not seen drastic changes due to switching tests. Instead, students spend significant, focused time studying for the new test and get a breath of fresh air and motivation to study hard.

It is hard to break out why exactly students do better; new motivation, differences in the exam, or test-day circumstances. But one thing we can definitively rely upon is the fact that consistent practice exams are the key to scoring well over time. Back-to-back tests over months might help for some students due to test-day changes; but for thousands of students, these types of differences are negligible and might even pose a negative score trend. While it's true that standardized testing is important for college, it's probably not worth signing up for so many.

SAT II Subject tests used to be very important. According to some university studies, the SAT II scores were more predictive than SAT I or ACT scores, even. To us at Empowerly, the SAT II scores can be an indicator if we have to retake the SAT I or take more or less AP/IB exams.

Some colleges recommend 2 SAT II Subject tests, with a few exceptions (Georgetown is one). We believe over time these recommendations will standardize across colleges. For students aiming for the Top 70 schools, recommendation (for anything academic) basically means a requirement. If that is the case, you should take these tests to be competitive!

The Academic Index is a formula that Ivy League schools invented to see if athletes were academically eligible for admission. It is a number out of 240 that takes into account your SAT I/ACT, SAT II, class size, and a few other factors.

We think AI is a valuable tool that students and parents should use to get a sense of where they stand. However, you do not need to benchmark your entire college plan based on the AI. The fact is, most students and parents we speak to do not know what the Academic Index is. Having another number to consider as the overall academic strength, regardless if you are an athlete or not, is helpful in figuring out this confusing process.

Check out this article we wrote specifically on AI and a graphical view on the AI. Doing so might help you answer how important standardized testing will be for your personal college plan.

We invented a term we call the Pyramid. At the base are academics, in the middle are activities, and at the top is vision. A complete application has all three of these components. In order to gain acceptance to the Top 100 schools, students often miss vision.

Academics is the base. Without academics, it is very tough to get into college. The Academic Index is one way we can measure all of the components of a student's academic metrics - SAT I/ACT, SAT II, GPA, class rank, school competitiveness, and the number of AP/IB. We also created a ratio called the difficulty ratio - the ratio of AP/IB tests divided by the total offered. This ratio, combined with a student's unweighted GPA gives us the whole story of competitiveness and classroom achievement.

Activities are in the middle. Once academics are covered, extracurricular activities are very important. We think that activities and vision (part 3) form 50% of an application. Therefore, we break up activities into four key areas: in-school, out-of-school, social work, and competitions. Overall, your student will want to have activities that follow a central theme across these four categories.

  Vision is at the top of the pyramid. It is necessary for students to gain admission to the Ivy League or other top schools. In workshops we have hosted, some call it passion, and others call it maturity. It is the ability to articulate our activities, why we do them, and what they mean to us as a maturing adult. Colleges are even more aware of students that do activities just for college admissions and can quickly sniff it out. Students should be genuine with themselves in their endeavors, and try to do introspection through journal writing throughout high school.

At the very least, we have our 11th and 12th-grade students think deeply about why they want to go to college, why they are doing what they do, and what they hope to achieve. The brilliance of this approach, which we call the Perspective Approach, is not that students lock down their primary interest which they follow throughout life, although that does happen. Instead, it is that students build a mental toolkit to explore their ever-changing interests and how these interests connect to the outside world. This is the most valuable skill students gain during the intensely introspective process of college admissions. Those that are successful are genuine, spend time thinking through their last 4 years, and articulate that vision.

Building a strategy for your exams is the smart way to go. Many students are unsure how important standardized testing is for college. Many students approach us at Empowerly with specific questions about tactics. We have answered the four most common questions here.

In addition, we looked at the SAT and ACT; two exams that students take for entrance to US colleges. We then went into the Academic Index, a number that colleges use that takes into account the major components of academics. We believe the Academic Index is valuable as a benchmark but should not be the sole source of information. Finally, we laid out the Pyramid, a mental framework to help students and parents. This framework helps you think about how academics fit into the big picture. Hopefully, this shed some light on the big question of how important standardized testing truly is for college admissions.

Still, have a few questions? Book your free consultation time below to discuss with a team member. We are happy to help.