Is a student's score on his or her college admittance exams (SAT and ACT) a good predictor of his or her collegiate and post-collegiate success?
It may not be the best indicator, but studies have shown that college entrance exams do tend to predict success in college and after.
The reason colleges use the scores from the SAT and ACT is that it is a fairly reliable indicator of success in college. Colleges would like to keep students who are able and willing to complete their degrees and higher ACT and SAT scores tend to correlate with success in college. In the same respect, success in college usually is followed by success after college. None of this is true for every individual case but when taken in general, trends can be seen.
Posted by: 54IInfernoYes, it is an indicator of initial collegiate success, but not necessarily reflective of overall collegiate success or post-collegiate success.
The SAT is only good at one thing. It is able to accurately predict the success of a student within the first 2 semesters of his college career. However, beyond that, not much can be proven using an SAT score. There are, of course, outliers but ultimately, success at the college level depends on the college being attended and the individuals drive to achieve. Therefore, a numerical value cannot truly be attached to individuals and compared as it is only relative and does not necessarily mean that two people with identical values are going to have similar overall success. But, it should be born in mind that the SAT is in fact accurate at predicting initial college success.
Posted by: AnonymousStandardized tests measure how hard someone works, and hard work pays off in the real world.
The SAT and ACT are not aptitude tests but, instead, they are knowledge tests. To a large degree, students can simply study for the tests and do correspondingly better. Therefore, instead of measuring aptitude, the tests measure how hard a student works. In college, and afterwards, how hard someone works will be very important to how successful they will be. While intelligence certainly factors in, the ability and desire to work hard, as applied to the SAT and ACT, will translate into real-world success.
Posted by: A BassNo, because a person's determination to succeed is the final factor.
The SATs and the ACTs might be placement exams, but I do not feel that they should be used as a factor in how students will succeed. A student's will to succeed should factor in as the final predictor to succeed. Just because a person might not score the best on an entrance exam, this may not factor in on how well they succeed in college. It's all about the determination to finish and succeed.
Posted by: SlipArnal
A four-hour test is not a good indicator of a student' knowledge.
A four-hour test once is not a good indicator of a student's future success. The student may be sick or distracted, or just not a good test taker. A better judge is four years worth of work over good and bad days.
Posted by: Pyr0DwaNo, because anyone can learn to take a test, but that doesn't prepare them for real work.
Taking a test will hardly ever prove someone's ability to succeed in school and work. In fact, knowing the make up of a test makes it much easier to succeed at the test, rather than at any type of real school work or career work. In a test, there are generally very well-defined parameters within which you must work. These parameters rarely exist in regular school work and in the general labor force. This means that succeeding on the test is a much simpler, more definable task, than succeeding at anything beyond the test. This proves that the test is in no way a reliable predictor of future success.
Posted by: MariaRThe ACT and SAT are not good academic indicators; in fact, many colleges no longer require these tests for admission.
The ACT and the SAT measure general knowledge, logic, general mathematics and language aptitude. They do not, however, measure a student's study habits and work ethic. Much of success in college and later in the work force is dependent on work and study ethics. Many colleges, notably some liberal arts school in New England, have come to see that that these tests are not a good measure of success and have stopped requiring them for admission. A student's high school performance is a much better predictor of later success. A good college student is likely a student who consistently took challenging courses in high school and performed well.
Posted by: MeatyClarence70I do not believe a students score on his/her college admittance exams is a good predictor of his collegiate and post-collegiate successes tests do not test for common sense, rather just book smarts.
There are a lot of people who are just bad test takers. Whether it be anxiety, or stress. All of these things effect test taking. Just because a score isn't as high, doesn't mean that it will effect his education at all.
Posted by: LorenaHA student's score on his or her college admittance exams is not a good predictor of his or her collegiate and post-collegiate success because work done in college has an effect too.
I would like to mention that while a student can score well in his or her collegiate admittance exam, that doesn't guarantee his or her success in collegiate and post-collegiate exams, because that will certainly depend on his or her efforts and hard work done throughout the year, in that curriculum. I believe that to be a true winner a person has to perform consistently; it just can't be decided in a single shot.
Posted by: MaIacIun4ticI believe that doing well in these exams do not prove that one will achieve success as college and work environment are quite different then a simple test.
I do not agree with the college admittance exams being a good predictor of a students success in college and after it as I find that people that doing well in these exams do not prove that one will be prepared to the job market or to the differences between high school and college. People may not adapt to the changes, thus compromising their success. Also, a test only tells half of the history: there are people who have practical skills that are not measured in tests. People who get nervous doing tests, and while being capable of scoring very high, end up doing mistakes and so on. Sure, those tests are a way of finding some good students, but the results of those tests are not an absolute truth nor are the exams the only way of measuring a student's capacity.
Posted by: Mau0Ptimi5ticYoung people at that age mature at different speed and a poor SAT's student might actually blossom later.
We expect students to mature all at the same time, just like some kids in kindergarten can't read whilst others can read fluently. Students who take the SAT may get a low score but finally mature 2 years later and blossom into fine human beings. This is why mature studying is so much successful, like in Germany for example, where students go to college in their 20s, no earlier.
Posted by: NWintersSAT and ACT scores are not a clear indicator of a student's future success.
SAT and ACT only score math and English skills, and even the skills tested have no relevance to the real world (analogies, for example.) There are a lot of things that go into a good student, and the biggest items, motivation and time-management, are skills that are not graded by any test. Also, studies have shown that a student's future success and their test scores have no correlation.
Posted by: PluckyCristobal97How well one does on a set examination bears little resemblance to the skills required in life.
The truth is that while a test can show academic and intellectual knowledge, in and of itself, it demonstrates primarily one skill: The ability to take tests.
In the real world, and even in college, success requires the ability to interview well and to sell one's self. It requires the discipline to put in a good day's work at whatever it is you choose to do. It requires self control and the skill to manage one's finances and avoid debt.
No test can show whether a prospective student has, or is going to develop, true life skills.Posted by: C0urtIightThe content in tests like the SAT is not reflective of all students' choices in higher education and forces students to study higher subjects that they may never use.
Some students simply do not test well, but are still quite intelligent. Also, the content on these tests are typically high level math, something many students many never use depending on their chosen career. It's not practical to have students learn complex math just to pass a test and never use it again. What lawyer needs to know calculus?
Posted by: TellingWalker59Because people test different than they perform, standardized tests are not good measures.
Many people are able to pass a test with flying colors but when they have to actually use the information tested on, fail miserably. Standardized tests are not a good way to predict college success. Someone who is book smart may get great SAT scores but may find that they perform miserably in college when faced with responsibility, schedules, prioritizing and social stress. College consists of many more factors than tests.
Posted by: TedieDelightI do not think that standardized test scores are an accurate prediction of student success because intellectual aptitude can be overwhelmed by social pressures once a student goes to college.
While a student's intellectual ability certainly contributes to his or her success in college, it is far from being the only or even the most accurate determining factor. For many students, the transition to college represents unprecedented freedom to make their own choices, and for some students this is manifested in a lack of interest in academia and heightened interest in social activity they were previously prevented from engaging in due to parental control. Many students arrive at college and have no idea how to create a balance of "work" activity and social activity and therefore, allow their studies to take the back seat, leading to lower performance in classes.
Posted by: Shim2freeSAT and ACT
SAT and ACT only score math and English skills, and even the skills tested have no relevance to the real world (analogies, for example.) There are a lot of things that go into a good student, and the biggest items, motivation and time-management, are skills that are not graded by any test. Also, studies have shown that a student's future success and their test scores have no correlation.
Posted by: AnonymousNo, those tests are not representative of how students will stand up to the challenges of college and life after college, no test can predict that.
Oftentimes, students who do well in high school and on the college entrance exams don't fare as well as expected once they begin college. College classes prove to be much more difficult than they anticipated, and they find themselves in situations that are quite challenging. Some students don't have good study habits, maybe because high school was easy for them. They are now a small fish in a big pond, and it's a little overwhelming for even the smartest students at times.
Posted by: PinkMychI believe that college admittance exams do not accurately predict a person's collegiate and post-collegiate success because many factors can affect the way a person performs on the exam.
The reason for this declaration are that a person may not have had a good night's sleep. The individual, although brilliant, may come from a troubled household, not allowing him/her to perform to their best ability. There are testing errors that could occur, such as getting off track when filling in the test. The individual may not have access to the relevant study materials before the exam and so on.
Posted by: J0hnGingerSAT and ACT
SAT and ACT only score math and English skills, and even the skills tested have no relevance to the real world (analogies, for example.) There are a lot of things that go into a good student, and the biggest items, motivation and time-management, are skills that are not graded by any test. Also, studies have shown that a student's future success and their test scores have no correlation.
Posted by: Anonymous