Payton+W.

 Standardized Tests and Success Today, standardized testing is used to determine the overall intelligence and problem solving skills of students around the country. Oftentimes, the scores students receive on them determines whether they will get into a certain college and they succeed in life, or so they think. But, does the SAT or ACT really determine how someone will fair at the university level or even in the business world? The SAT holds so much merit in today’s society and is it really an accurate measure of a student’s intelligence both academically and in the outside world?

The SAT and ACT are said to be a measure of the success a certain individual will have at the university level. To some extent, this holds some merit. But, how does one or two Saturday’s within the scheme of one’s entire life determine their future. The facts are, it doesn’t. Many of today’s top entrepreneurs and businessmen have been successful because of the manner in which they negotiate and interact with people and not the score in which they received on a test. I feel that the ability to interact socially in the outside world is a key part of one’s success. The SAT or ACT cannot measure at all someone’s ability to do this. Also, scoring well on the SAT does not ensure that one will succeed in life. Plenty of people with perfect scores on the SAT have dropped out of college or failed in the real world because they do not possess the skills to interact with others and successfully do a certain job. Sometimes, brainpower is not the key to success and this is why I believe that we should have a test that more accurately measures the ‘overall’ intelligence of a person

The ability to work hard in high school and in the endeavors one may undertake is much more important than an SAT. This is why I don’t think students should have to worry about a single test that is more trying to trick you then determine your merit as a person. Hard work is the key to success and this has been proven in real life situations time and time again. A few examples include my father and a long time friend of his. My dad was not the smartest person as far as school is concerned and he did not score that well on the SAT. He attended The Citadel, which for those of you that don’t know is the Military College of South Carolina. Here he proved he could work hard and earned a scholarship his senior year for the most improved student. From this point forward, his SAT did not hold any value in whether he would be hired or fired. Turns out, be became very successful and his SAT score was not a factor whatsoever. My dad has also dealt with the hiring of people and he has told me that the college they went to does not hold that much merit, let alone their SAT score. The terms of whether he hired them or not was their prior experience, their ability to interact in the business world, and the effort they would put in. This case just simply proves that an SAT score is not going to determine your future.

Peyton Warley

I’m glad I don’t live in Japan where they take an entrance exam to get in every college and the college you go to determines the job you receive.

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