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LKNW HALL PASS: YOUR INSIDE GUIDE TO EDUCATION
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Changes in the ACT/SAT and how it could affect your college plans! IT’S ALMOST THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN!
The time when parents are freaking out (if their children are high school juniors or seniors) because it’s time to suit up for the dreaded ACT or SAT. Then, BOOM! We get the word that the College Board is moving the SAT to digital and shaving an hour off the test! Parents started to rejoice and retool their plans because they also heard the news that the University of California college system, has abolished the requirements for the standardized tests, and many other colleges and universities across the country have followed suit. Is it time to strike up the band and celebrate? I think not… let me tell you what this means:
With standardized testing being optional for colleges and universities, more emphasis is going to be placed on actual grades and community/volunteer service. This isn’t the end of the world if you’ve already been grooming your kids to stay connected, but what if you have not? Plan to include community service in your rotation of regular family activities at least once a quarter. Another idea that hasn’t quite been discussed as much as parents need is that going test-optional for college admissions just impacts admission, NOT funding. Colleges may not require the ACT or SAT to get into college BUT there is still the small matter of paying for college. When you start looking at the internal and portable scholarships that are available, several are still asking for these test scores. Accounting for the pandemic and how that has wreaked havoc on finding locations to take said tests, several scholarships left the option of adding scores in 2020 and 2021. For 2022 and beyond, it isn’t wise to count on this pattern to continue.
In regards to the SAT going digital, it’s about revenue—700,000 fewer students took the SAT in 2021. The College Board has to make up that money as they still need to compete with the ACT, stay relevant, and of course, keep afloat financially. If you want to have a shot at the school funding opportunities that exist as well as the large cache of external scholarships, my recommendation is to test. Yes, it’s stressful, yes it costs to prepare, and yes it could be that you don’t get any scholarships from the effort. But what if it pays off ? What if that 25 on the ACT is the difference between your child receiving a $10k renewable scholarship or you having to make up that difference out of your retirement fund?
The test option doesn’t mean that you’re automatically waived from the scholarship requirements at educational institutions. Frankly it’s not a risk worth taking for many with more than one child. w Shawn A. Hall is a former U.S. Department of Education Program specialist who resides in Mooresville. She is a scholarship and college admissions coach and the founder of All Roads Education. The author of “Prepare Now, Don’t Pay Later,” Shawn is the mother of a high school junior, college freshman, college graduate, and elementary student. For more information, visit allroadseducation.com.
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APRIL 2022
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lakenormanw oman.com
WRITER
Shawn A. Hall
