Phoebe Smolin

Phoebe Smolin, a senior at Hamilton High School, is a mixture of dedicated student and laid-back human being. When in school, she is active in all of her classes as well as involved in various clubs including Youth Task Force and Nevians. She also writes for Hamilton’s literary journal. Outside of school, she takes part in political protests, plays various instruments, takes pictures, travels, and, of course, writes for The Homeroom.

Comments

[Jeff Levy]

Phoebe, your words are wise and your feelings about the SAT are shared by millions. Just two months ago, a commission of college admissions experts headed by William Fitzsimmons (dean of admissions at Harvard) issued its report calling on colleges to cease using standardized tests as admission criteria unless they can prove from their own validity studies that these tests will help predict student success in college. Most colleges will not conduct such studies, and if they did the results would not be kind to the SAT, as you suspect.

There is a growing movement which recognizes that the SAT Reasoning Test has almost no predictive value of any kind, and that the expenditure of money and energy on a useless test is something which should come to an end. But that may take some time. In the meantime, rest assured that there are a hundreds of excellent schools which are SAT optional, and a growing number who understand the value of looking at each applicant holistically, who will see your lower math score as one factor in a mix of many.

You are bright, accomplished, and engaged. You know how to think, how to write, and how to interact with your community. Yes you are right--a poor score on the math section may, in fact, hurt your chances for acceptance at a very small number of elites. And yes, that test should not be used as a criterion of admission. But there is no doubt that most of the schools you apply to who share your values and your passion for learning will want you to be a part of their community.

Best of luck in your college search, and in finding a school where your passions will be honored.