The UC Regents’ decision to not consider SAT or ACT scores in future application cycles
Liana Dong
Staff Writer
To many students at American, sophomore year summers spent in air-conditioned classrooms are a given. Tutors promise parents an SAT score of 1400 or higher for their rising juniors, a dire necessity for those clambering to get into top schools across the nation. But of course, it’ll cost a couple thousand dollars, a luxury that many cannot afford. After a series of lawsuits concerning the unfair advantages that high-income students have in standardized testing, the UC system has decided to eliminate SAT and ACT scores from their admissions process completely, starting with the class of 2022.
Initially going test-optional before officially going test-blind for 2021 applicants, UC’s stance on accepting scores has been ever-shifting. This is a result of a back and forth between the regents, who believed that not accepting voluntary scores would be more detrimental than not, and student lawyers, who argued that standardized testing discriminates against “low-income students of color and students with disabilities” (SF Chronicle). With the ability to easily access preparatory resources and travel to their testing sites, high-income, able-bodied students are able to “buy their scores” while low-income students may spend their summers working multiple jobs to pay rent. After filing multiple appeals in favor of using standardized testing, UC reached a settlement in May to “provide certainty for students and their families, counselors, and high schools,” finally preventing admissions test scores from being used in the application process.
Eagle Era 