<p>I am thrilled that wake forest is making SAT submission optional, because although I am number 1 in my class and involved in numerous activities, I know my chances for admission to elite colleges will be limited by my SAT scores. I don’t think that a test 4 hrs long on some random saturday should carry such weight in deciding my future. Everyone who posts and responds to my questions on CC has nothing to say except that my scores are too low, which is really disheartening because of the work I’ve put into high school over the course of 4 years. I know for a fact I will thrive in college, and anyone who posts saying that if a student doesn’t have the SAT scores in the range for a certain college, then maybe they shouldn’t be there, is frankly insulting. Whether someone gets a 1000 or a 2400 on their SATs I honestly don’t think it dictates at all how someone will preform in the classroom, and to all those who say it levels the playing field amongst high schools, for some are clearly more arduous than others, I understand your arguement. However, I know school systems where students begin taking the SATs in middle school, and take them every year, twice a year, so by the time they have applied to college they have about 13 sets of scores to choose from. If they’ve had the practice of 13 SATs of course their scores are likely to be higher than someone who only took the test one or two times. So the test alone really does not equally compare students, especially when some pay thousands of dollars on prep courses. I care about my scores just as much as the next student and I did take a prep course offered at my school, but in all honesty, I don’t think I’d ever pay $1,000 to prepare for a test, even if it meant I’d gain admission to Harvard or Yale. Some people just don’t test well, but are amazing students, and others are trained in testing and could care less about the work they put into a class. Why should the students who have the highest scores be selected to recieve the “big” envelope when in actuality a portion of them do just whats required to get by in the classroom? If you’ve received high scores, congratulations, I’m not saying you don’t deserve them. My only point is that there are so many students who are amazing, but just don’t have the same luck when taking the SATs, and I don’t feel that that should limit their college options.</p>