I know I am more than my SAT or ACT score, that is for sure. I hope that my classmates at my school and all of the other graduating seniors from the class of 2024 know that they are more than their score, as well.

That being said, I do believe there is value in standardized test scores. The value is that the test taker and college see the areas of strengths, areas of weakness, but also areas that may have not been taught to the individual person. A person can also learn areas that can be improved. So, yes, a test score can reflect some potential in a person.

However, a low score in a specific area may not show a weakness, but rather it can also show that the person may not have been exposed to that area in English, math or science. The test score is also a snapshot from one day of one person’s 12 year academic journey. We do not have a standard Curriculum across our country so what one person learns may be very different from what another person learns.

The word ‘potential’ in itself is a subjective word. What does it mean that a test can measure a person’s ‘real potential.’ Just because a student can earn a perfect or near perfect score on the ACT or SAT, does not mean that that same person will be academically successful, nor does it mean that they will achieve their ‘real potential’ in school or in a career.

Overall, standardized test scores are only one piece of the puzzle that makes up each individual person. There are so many different aspects to humans that cannot be measured by the SAT or ACT. For instance, musical, artistic, social-emotional talents are not measured or evaluated on one of these exams. A test cannot measure a person’s artistic talent on a stage, on a dance floor or at a potter’s wheel. There is not a section where a person can play the flute or violin or sing a song from the musical, Mamma Mia! There is no room on a test to measure these subjective talents. Further, standardized tests are objective in nature, and do not include class discussions or socratic seminars. In fact, those forums are where I have learned more from my classmates and teachers than in lecture-based instruction which lends itself to the questions found on a standardized test. The combination of test scores, essays, recommendations, activities, and interviews paint a better picture of of a ‘whole’ person. If that person lives up to his/her ‘real potential’, that is up to them.