Most people spend their elementary and middle school years anticipating the “High School Experience” with prom, Friday night football games, and freedom. But when in high school, there is one thing almost everyone wants to put off: SATs and ACTs.

“When I was an eighth grader, I was really apprehensive about high school. I was also excited for the academic freedom and the independence that comes with high school. But when I took SATs as a junior, I was lucky to get sleep at night! I had to go to SAT Prep classes on top of doing hours of homework. SATs are pretty annoying,” senior Cecilia Presseau said.

When taking the exams, students put every piece of knowledge that their brain contains onto a piece of paper. The tests can be “annoying” and quite stressful for most high school students mainly because they can either get students in, or keep students out of their dream school.

However, some colleges announced that these tests are optional when applying. Bates College, Lawrence University, Juilliard and many other universities put more focus on the student’s success in school rather than their standardized testing scores.

Over 280 colleges give test-optional policies. Bates College was one of the first institutions to switch to test optional about 20 years ago. In a USA Today article, written in 2005, Bates College claimed SAT submitting students are indistinguishable from the non- submitters. Once they are in college, their grade point averages and class ranks are very close.

In a New York Times article, released on September 21, William Fitzsimmons, the Dean of Admissions at Harvard University, states that test optional policies are better for the country. Most schools that dropped standardized testing requirements made it so that applicants must have at least a 3.5 GPA and have to be ranked at the top of their high school class in order to be accepted into the test-optional schools.

Fitzsimmons explained how it’s best for the students to get solid grades in several rigorous high school courses rather than spending time studying for a single test.

The New York Times article also said that colleges are looking at Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate test scores over the SATs. These two tests relate more to what the student has learned in high school, while the SAT and ACT tests are based more on what knowledge has been gained outside the classroom.

Some colleges, such as the Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, look at the student’s past research papers, and science projects instead of the test scores.

SATs have been an American tradition. However, the number of applicants applying to test-optional schools and colleges switching to test optional policies have significantly increased within the past couple years. William Fitzsimmons even predicts that Harvard, an elite Ivy League School, will be test optional in the near future. It’s only a matter of time until this American tradition changes.