During my college application process, I had a choice if I wanted to put my SAT score on my application. I chose not to. 

I made this decision because I felt that it wouldn’t show my success as an actual student. I have the opportunity to be on not one, but two award-winning publications, which shows my passion for writing and my capability to work on deadlines. But it also shows the amount of effort I put into the work I do and the time it takes to do that. 

I don’t feel that it’s necessary to judge someone based on their SAT score. I’m not a good test taker and I struggle with memorization when it comes to tests. It’s a lot of time you have to take to memorize the information you learned over the past few months, which is hard for me to do. 

At first, I was concerned about my SAT score since I didn’t score well on the test. There were certain sections of the test that I did well on, but other parts of the test I can’t say the same. It made me feel very insecure to apply to college since I didn’t do well on the test. It also made me not want to apply to colleges at all. I felt that if I applied I’d get rejected from each school. It impacted me negatively because everyone I knew was applying, and it made me feel that I would be unsuccessful in life. 

After having conversations with college advisor Chloe Wolma, she told me over 80 percent of colleges say it’s optional to put your SAT scores on your application, and that it’s not a requirement. 

 “Students shouldn’t worry too much about putting SAT scores on their college applications because many schools have a test-optional admissions policy, meaning they will give you fair consideration for admission even if you do not send them your test scores,” Wolma said. 

It made me feel relieved since I put off applying to colleges for so long. I remember thinking to myself ‘I may have a chance of getting into a college.’ I also find that forgiving because a score truly doesn’t define whether or not you’re a successful student. 

You can have the best grades and still manage to score the worst on tests and it’s completely fine. Colleges can see how much time and effort you put into your grades, clubs and extracurricular activities. I feel that standardized tests just show a bunch of information from classes you’ve taken and expect you to score well on them. As someone who has taken AP classes, I’ve learned that I can’t remember all the information I’ve been handed, but I don’t think that makes me not ready for college.

“I think that these changes will positively impact the future for students by making higher education more accessible. I am hoping that schools do not move back to requiring test scores anytime soon,” Wolma said. 

I’m never prepared for tests because there’s always going to be something I miss. I’m not the smartest person, but I’m a hardworking person. At the end of the day, that’s what will define me, not a score on a test. I’ll be successful in the future no matter what college I go to.