I’m going to give you two options, and I want you to think, as an admissions officer, which candidate you would choose.
 

Candidate A has a 3.9 GPA, perfect attendance, a 1280 SAT score and a 29 ACT. Then, there’s Candidate B who has a 3.9 GPA, perfect attendance, a 34 ACT, and a 1500 SAT.
 

Truthfully, based on the information provided, I would choose the second candidate hands down, and that’s what many colleges do. By evaluating students in this way, an admissions officer is solely focusing on test scores more than anything else. They are blinded from a student’s true potential. Now, let me reveal the rest of each candidate’s resume.
 

Candidate A is the President of three on campus organizations, an officer of 3 others, has 300+ hours of community service, 800+ hours devoted to an internationally recognized organization, involved in youth group, and has 3 years of work force experience. Candidate B is an ROTC captain with 100+ hours of community service, and VP of student council. After hearing the rest of each candidate’s profile, the first candidate seems to be the harder worker. He/She was involved in more organizations, contributed more time to his community, and still maintained a high GPA. There’s more to their profile than their test scores.
 

Colleges have become so overwhelmed with being able to meet a certain quota of graduating students, that they forget why schools were established in the first place: to prepare students for the real world. Educators are supposed to teach us skills we can use in real life situations, not how to pass our SAT, or ACT, or even State Assessments. Tests have plagued the education system, forcing students to become more machine-like. A student’s job changed from learning a subject, to memorizing and analyzing the data fed to us. Creativity, freedom, and individualism have become obsolete on our education system. The norm of a student is not for us to explore and learn, but rather to sit down, shut up, and inhale the knowledge of a screen.
 

Within the last two decades, testing has become the backbone of the American education system. For example, students in Ohio now have to take tests in 5th grade that last 8 hours and passing this test decides whether or not you can enter middle school. That’s right, in order to enter middle school, in order to pass elementary school, these children sit down all day taking a test.
 

“The focus on test prep eats up time that could be spent doing hands-on projects and collaborative, interactive activities,” Dawn Neely-Randall, a teacher of 24 years, told the HPR, “In the beginning, we were doing all of these great projects and they were fluent readers and writers … and then all of a sudden, I had to stop everything to get them ready for a test.” In fact, according to a report published in 2013 by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), “Students in heavily tested grades can spend over 110 hours per year doing test prep, and as many as 50 hours per year taking the tests themselves, a total of roughly 15 percent of their instructional time.” This quote is straight from the Harvard Political Review. Even students attending top 10 schools are realizing the negative effects of standardized testing.
 

As these students move on to high school, they prepare for more test, including AP Exams. There’s even classes devoted to preparing students for these AP Tests. As a student, I’m well aware of the pressures of passing that exam. I was actually in total fear that I did not passed my BC calculus test… and looking back, that is sickening. I was in fear that I didn’t pass a test?
 

People used to be afraid of rational things like bears, lions, tornadoes, diseases, etc., but now one of the most common fears in high school is test taking, which is practically insane. Teachers have constantly shoved down our throats the importance of taking and passing every kind of exam to get into and succeed in college that we have become fearful of pieces of paper. I mean, I know paper cuts can hurt, but that is unbelievable.
 

Now, do you remember the candidates from the beginning of this article? Well, there is some truth to that story. I’m the Candidate A, and I didn’t get into my school of choice because of my test scores. In fact, I pulled up the average admissions for Vanderbilt this last year and of the 8.8% accepted students the average ACT was a 34, and the average SAT a 1570, but the average GPA was a 3.75. To sum it up, the average student had a 93 overall grade in school, but they tested well. What these numbers really mean is that the students who get into top 10 schools aren’t the ones who had consistently high GPA’s or devoted hundreds of hours to their community or other organizations. No, they are the ones test well.
 

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The future of our education system actually worries me even more than other struggles within our world today.”

One day, I’m going to be a parent, holding my children as they ask themselves why they weren’t good enough too get into the school of their dreams… asking me how after working hard to be involved in extracurricular activities, leading groups, working for charities, and maintaining a high GPA, they didn’t get in… How will I explain to my child that tests are more important than your hard work?
 

In many cases, school leaders fail to recognize other qualifying factors of students because of the emphasis our education system has placed on standardized testing. These tests cannot measure students’ true potential, their ability to find their passion, or their integrity in following through with their promises.
 

Everybody is smart and capable in their own way. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. Think about it.
 

Need A Massage? Learn How To Give One To Yourself And Your Loved Ones

5 months ago by Aaron 4 min read No comments

Receiving a massage, whether it’s given by someone else or self-administered, can help loosen your muscles and establish a better connection not only with your body but also with the people you love.