Putting SAT Prep Centers to the Test
The Boomerang is a monthly feature where two opposing views about an issue is debated by different columnists.
You could call this time of the year SAT season. Not too long ago, the class of 2018 saw over 2.1 million students taking the dreaded test, hoping to gain a perfect score that could make or break their college admissions. Even preparing for the test adds another level of confusion and anxiety for students. Study methods include using SAT practice booklets, doing SAT practice tests or using the free online Khan Academy SAT course. However, the most preferred method remains to be attending SAT prep centers. These multi-week boot camps teach interesting methods to tackling the test questions in the hope of boosting one’s score. The problem, however, is that these classes charge exorbitant fees which make them unobtainable for many people. Should test prep centers therefore be allowed? Are these centers really symptomatic of how college admissions and attending university has become a privilege–and a privilege of a select few? In the light of the recent scandal that has rocked the country’s prestigious learning institutions, we might need to reassess SAT prep centers and their ethical dimensions.
The Unfair Cost of Test Prep Centers
By Akash Sethi
Students should be allowed to prepare for tests through whatever study methods help them best. However, many students are prevented from attending SAT prep classes due to socioeconomic factors. This is why the SAT prep classes should not be allowed.
Many students prepare for these tests on their own; while their scores do increase through self study, it is not the dramatic increase that students usually see when they prepare through study centers. These establishments provide students with curriculum that makes them more knowledgeable about the tests and techniques that help them navigate the tests. Overall, test prep centers improve students’ testing so that it is more accurate, time-efficient, and strategic.
The useful information that these prep centers provide does not come without cost. The entry level prices for them can start at $750 for popular test prep centers. “Elite” prep centers can charge up to $1,000 an hour. These prices, on top of the fees being charged to take the actual test, adds up to a great deal of money. So much so that typically only financially well off families and students–yes, students like us–can actually afford this advantage.
Those who do not have the money to pay for these classes are prevented from understanding a great deal about the SAT. The unfairness that presents itself in preparing for the SAT translates to college admissions. SAT scores, and other standardized test scores, play a significant and often unavoidable part in a student’s college application. Although many colleges are beginning to move away from the importance of SAT scores in the college application process, these scores are definitely not obsolete and often play a role in calibrating the merits of a student and whether they should be admitted into the college. Therefore, if certain students have an advantage in getting higher SAT scores because of their wealth, then they similarly have a greater advantage of getting into colleges for the same reason.
When it was created in the 1930s, the SAT was a scholarship test for disenfranchised students. Today, however, it presents an unequal opportunity to students in their paths to college, favoring the rich. The recent college admission scandal, in which several wealthy members of American society were charged with essentially paying their kids’ way into college, definitely exposed some of the advantages received by the wealthy in the college admission process. However, even more advantages exist within our society for the wealthy, such as test prep centers, that are not necessarily illegal, but are definitely not fair.
Without Prep Centers, Students are Paying the Price
By Tejas Raghuram
Recently, test prep centers have come under fire for giving the wealthy an unfair advantage over people who are unable to afford the cost of these centers. However, it is not a feasible solution to remove test prep centers because of the many benefits they provide students.
If the removal of test prep centers was successfully enforced, and all methods of test prep were completely banned, this would be very unfair to the students taking the test. How can colleges use these standardized tests as a metric of a student’s ability if students are unable to prepare for them?
In addition, the material used on these tests is another reason test prep centers should exist. A large gap exists between what students learn in school and what is on standardized tests, such as the SAT, despite what the back cover of College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide might tell you. For examples, one need only look at the math section of the SAT. Most math questions in a normal high school curriculum have students reduce an expression to solve for “x” or some other variable. However, on the SAT, many questions will have you solve for an expression, such as “2x-15a.” According to Fritz Stewart, founder and CEO of a test prep company called Noodle Education, “Even very good math students often don’t know how to approach these questions because they have never seen them before.” Stewart says that tutoring basically bridges the gap between what students learn in the classroom and what is on the SAT. Therefore, students should be allowed to prepare for the test any way they want to, whether that be through independent study methods or through test prep centers.
Another reason that test prep companies should exist is to help relieve test anxiety in students. With these tests playing such a crucial role into which colleges students get into, it is no wonder that students are extremely anxious about them. Being a student myself, the pressure to do well on these tests is unbelievably high, as even a small screw-up could cost you your entire future. Sure enough, it is not the test prep companies that are causing this anxiety, but rather the test itself. As James S. Murphy of The Atlantic puts it, “Test prep companies step in to relieve that anxiety, in the same way that doctors treat illness.” Again, having done test prep myself, I can say that this is most definitely true. Because of my test prep classes, my scores have improved, which caused my anxiety about the test to go down.
Because of all of the points listed above, test prep centers should be allowed to exist. They bridge the gap between what students learn in high school, they reduce students’ anxiety about the test, and banning them would be impossible to enforce. However, they only exist because superficial high stakes tests like the SAT and ACT exist. If those tests were discontinued, then test prep centers would not give unfair advantages to people wealthy enough to game the system. But that is another issue, for another time.
[Sources: theatlantic.com, usatoday.com]