According to Michele Hernandez, a former admissions officer at
Dartmouth (quoted in the January 10, 1999, New York Times Magazine),
“Deep down, admissions officers don’t want SAT scores to count that
much, but...they do.” Yet more than 300 colleges no longer even require
the SAT or ACT for admission, believing it’s more important that
they assess a student’s real level of learning and effort, not their “innate
ability.”
Though one method of predicting success, such tests are not, by
any means, perfect oracles. Nor are their conclusions inalienable.
Many people have succeeded in life without ever doing particularly
well on standardized tests.
Important Note: As of this writing, many standardized tests
are no longer offered “on paper,” only on computer (CAT—for
computer-adaptive testing format). Among the most important that
fall into this category are the GMAT (Graduate Management
Admissions Test), GRE (Graduate Record Exam), and TOEFL
(Test of English as a Foreign Language), along with a number of
specific licensing tests.
What does this mean to you? Tests available only in CAT format
require a different strategy because of two important factors:
You can’t return to a previous answer, and you can’t skip a question
and return to it later. Make sure you know if you are taking a
computer or written test and practice (and strategize) accordingly!
Chapter 8 ■ How to Study for Tests 211