The College Board has modified the SAT test, making the timed essay portion optional for students. This change does not take effect for two years, so this will only affect current high school freshmen. Other changes include using a 1600 point scale instead of a 2400 point scale, and removal of point reductions on incorrect multiple choice answers.

“Overall, if the essay is gone, then SAT scores will be higher,” senior Michael Lam said. “Most students who take the SAT are from regular English classes, and aren’t used to writing essays like that.”

This change follows a study done by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, showing that SAT and ACT scores have minimal effects on college graduation rates and student grade point averages. To some, this study only confirms what they thought about the SAT before.

“I don’t think the SAT is an accurate measurement of how successful a student will be in college,” career center specialist Robin Roth said.

The purpose of the SAT and ACT tests is to measure how successful students will be as they go into college. Having been shown to be inaccurate indicators of success by the NACAC study, the College Board will be changing the test to assess other kinds of skills.

“The idea is to even the playing field,” Roth said, “so that students who have less resources financially, who are bright students, can take advantage of the free preparation and hopefully be just as prepared as students and families with deeper pockets.”

According to The Washington Post, students in families that earn less than $20,000 a year have an average total score of 1326, compared to students in families that make more than $200,000 a year who have an average score of 1715. This score gap is greatest in the writing section of the test, which is one of the reasons why the essay was dropped as a requirement.

Other factors that create gaps in SAT scores are the ethnic groups students belong to and how educated their parents are, instead of the actual skill and knowledge of the student themselves.

“It’s a test to measure a student’s general knowledge of all subjects,” sophomore Ahmed Mohamed said. “Colleges take a look at it to see your strengths and weaknesses.”

“The purpose of the SAT is to test basic knowledge, especially in math and English,” Lam said. “In math, students are tested on applying previously learned knowledge to find an answer, while English is about knowing how to use knowledge in your own way.”

Despite not being an accurate assessment of success in college, taking the SAT can provide opportunities to students that they would not have had otherwise.

“What students should consider is what schools are looking for,” Roth said, “different schools have different criteria for accepting students. Some smaller, liberal arts colleges offer merit scholarships to people with a certain GPA or SAT score. These are not competitive schools, they are less selective.”

“Seeing how you need to take the SAT to get into colleges, it does matter if you get a higher score because that’s what colleges will be looking at,” junior Gillian Thomas said.

More reliable indicators of college success are the grades and classes a student gets.

“To me, it doesn’t necessarily count as much as my GPA or actual courses,” Mohamed said. “It’s up there, but not as much as my grades. As of now, I haven’t been preparing for the SAT, but I’ll probably study for it over the summer.”

“If it does affect which colleges you want to go to,” Thomas said, “then you should focus more on it, but there are other factors that you have to weigh in, like grades and schoolwork, that colleges will be looking at.”

“Coursework and grades are much more of an accurate assessment of how successful a student will be in college,” Roth said.

The SAT and ACT tests as they are now can be challenging for some students, especially those who have not spent as much time practicing, preparing and studying.

“The SAT wasn’t that difficult for me,” Lam said. “The math portion covers the first three years of high school, from algebra one to two. English may be more difficult for some people, especially on questions that ask you to choose the best answer.”