It is chancing season again on CC and many applicants are saying that they are “bad test takers” as an excuse for sometimes very low SAT/ACT scores compared to high GPA’s. Many refer these applicants to test optional schools.
What happens to these students when they graduate from college or professional schools? What happens when they have to take the medical or dental board exams, bar exam, nursing board exams, CPA exam etc.? There are no test optional professions…other than journalism.
I wonder about this also. Perhaps they are not good test takers, but don’t they take tests at school? More likely they are not well prepared for the test by their education to that point?
These students frequently major in subjects that require writing papers and doing research - and that works out fine for them. They sometimes do have to suck it up and take a licensing exam or a GRE - but generally if they have a strong academic record as an undergrad, the lower test score isn’t a terrible barrier. One of my young relatives is ‘a bad test taker’ with a 4.0 and Phi Beta Kappa, now completing her Phd. The GRE was tough for her - she was disappointed again in her score. But obviously the grad schools were willing to go with the GPA, LORs, distinguished track record of publications, etc…
@N’s Mom Do you feel because of this she chose a career that did not require a licensing exam?
Perhaps this is a reason professional programs put a strong emphasis on standardized admission tests. Otherwise their graduates’ pass rate on licensing exams would be lowered.
I work with young professionals who struggle with passing professional certification exams (and others who breeze right through). Factors I’ve noticed is the rigor of their grad programs and their level of anxiety. In particular, as anxiety increases, the test takers “overthink” their responses, and tend to not easily prioritize the best answers.
. . . and yet, somehow, billions of homo sapiens manage to survive on this planet without acing standardized tests. I even know some very successful ones.
@jasmom Making quick decisions under stress is needed in some professions: doctor, nurse for example. .
@TomSrOfBoston, who says there are no tests in journalism? I got into a journalism graduate program after acing the GRE and I got my current job after scoring well on the AP test.
True, but are they in licensed professions?
You would actually want an MD who thinks of all possibilities. Sometimes the truly analytic thinkers have trouble with standardized tests (and some questions are not clear). Of course, they may not make it into medical school 
@compmom a doctor needs to think of all possibilities and be able to make the best time sensitive decision.
There are plenty of careers where you never have to take another test after college. A huge percentage of people who get a bachelor’s degree stop at that.
I hope these kids mean - “I am not a good standardized test taker.” If it is all tests, getting through some of the gen ed math and science requirements will be rough. Those classes tend to be test centric as opposed to paper writing.
A couple of thoughts. Sometimes here on CC when people say they have low test scores, what it means is that although they are well above average, they aren’t going to be high enough to get them into Ivy League type schools.
In our experience, my son’s standardized test scores have never reflected his ability. It has meant he has to work harder to prove his ability. Example, admission to his HS honors program is totally based on an entrance exam. He didn’t make it, but after freshman year, he was invited to join. He has had two different tutors for the ACT and SAT and they have both said, after working with him a for a while, that he clearly knows the material and that the issue really does seem to be anxiety.
I look at this as a situation that most people face in some way. We all have limitations. I am a journalism major actually and yes, I picked it because I’m a decent writer and not very good at math. So yes, I gravitated towards something I could do well at. I think most people do that right?
For my son, we were realistic in choosing the schools he applied to. Yes, it’s a bummer that someone with a perfect GPA in a rigorous course load probably has to rule out some schools since his test scores don’t match up, but that is life. He still has great choices and since his scores are really good, I am not worried that he cannot get a decent score on a GRE if he needs to. When/if that happens, he will again look for programs that will be a good fit for him.
Finally, I have seen other posts that claim high grades and lower test scores equal grade inflation. I do not appreciate that generalization at all. I have known some kids who are great test takers who have floundered in competitive programs because they cannot do the work required. However, that doesn’t mean that all kids with great test scores and so-so grades are flakes with no discipline.
@delurk1 Those are not professional certification tests.
I am thinking of few cases here on CC where the poster is a 4.0 likely valedictorian and gets 1550/2400 on the SAT.
I think what some students mean is that they are not good SAT/ACT testers not in general bad testers. Some kids do well on tests and quizzes in school but not well on the SAT. I also know several kids that did very well (advanced level) on our state’s standardized tests and still did bad on the SAT. If you look at common data sets of some nursing schools they have average to low SAT/ACT scores yet they have above 80% passing rate in the licencing test. Not all standardized tests are the same. Not doing well on the SAT/ACT does not mean not doing well in any type of standardized test. I have also to say that a 4.0 gpa student will say that he/she is a bad tester if he/she has a SAT score of 650/650 (math/cr). This is actually an ok score. There is no indication that such a student will not pass the NCLEX or the CPA exam.
Consistently good grades in class and consistently bad grades in standardized exams is a big waving red flag for test-induced anxiety and for to-date unidentified processing issues along the dyslexia line. Students educated in the US system who show this type of discrepancy between classroom grades and standardized exam scores should be evaluated for those issues. Both of those do have work-arounds, and a formally diagnosed dyslexia/processing issue can mean that the individual will be given various types of accommodation for standardized exams (a reader, extra time, different format, etc.)
Just because a person doesn’t perform well on the multiple-choice type of exam that is so often used in standardized settings, does not mean that the person would also perform poorly on assessments that follow different designs.
As a registered occupational therapist, I was required to take a certification exam in order to get licensure to practice . The difference between these exams and the SAT, ACT,GRE is you are being tested on practical knowledge related specifically to one’s area of practice, not generalized
Information. Also, in most cases , once you “pass” your exam, testing is over. There are continued competency requirements but those are usually met by attending workshops, literature reviews, presenting and participating in research etc.
This is true. I have done IGCSE/A levels, and in most science subjects they have only one multiple choice paper; the rest is all written. No such option exists in Math, where scoring is all based on the “working out” you show. The theory is that if you make a small mistake (for e.g forget a minus sign, or do correct working but calculate the numbers wrong) you won’t lose the whole mark. In fact, the final answer makes up about 1/4 of the final mark for a question, as they require you to show how you got your answer. An answer without working out will be given a mark of 0.
Now the SAT is the opposite: it depends solely on the final answer, it doesn’t matter how you get there. It can happen that some of these students, besides feeling anxious, made ‘careless’ errors or simply misbubbled. Like many have noted, the material tested on the SAT isn’t really that hard, it’s how the questions are phrased.
And if I recall correctly, doctors have a practical exam of sorts as well, and their tests aren’t MCQ’s. Of course it could be different in the US, so I’m not sure.
“However, that doesn’t mean that all kids with great test scores and so-so grades are flakes with no self-discipline.”
Well, my great test scorer with so-so (read: bad) grades was a flake with no self-discipline. Luckily, college seems to agree with him in a way that high school did not; either he is maturing, or he is better served by an academic system which favors exam scores over completion of homework assignments and classroom participation.
The bottom line is, there is no one right answer. When a kid posts a 4.3 gpa with a 1750 SAT, it definitely sets up a red flag for me. But is it test anxiety? Learning disability? Grade inflation? Who can say? I usually think the kid is a hard worker, and will do well in life, but should probably add some test optional schools to his list.