The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 has led to many different changes in education from online school to mask mandates. Students of West Albany High School may have viewed these changes in their own lives as well as the lives of their friends and siblings. One change that may be especially impactful for specifically juniors and seniors is that many colleges have chosen to opt out of or not accept standardized test scores on their applications.

     “There’s actually a growing number of colleges such as OSU, U of O, and Harvard that are permanently not using SAT or ACT scores after Covid,” AP Comp teacher Jodi Howell said.”I think as colleges stop, the question of their importance is also being raised.”

     As Howell mentioned, this leads to the questioning of how much importance and value that standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT hold on college applications. According to washingtonpost.com, more and more colleges seem to be focusing on extracurricular activities rather than a student’s test scores. The idea of looking more at what a student completed in their years of high school rather than their score on one or two tests may be a better option for colleges when it comes to their applicant pool.

     Students who are lower income or who are part of a minority may be overlooked in colleges that tend to focus on attributes such as SAT or ACT scores, and the elimination of these scores being necessary may also help to change that.

     “I’m curious to see if the colleges start opening up more like that to more things like just how involved you are in your school, our diversity of students, you know, not necessarily just a test score,” Howell said.