Palestine

Standardized test scores have long been a major criteria to get into the various courses offered by colleges both at undergraduate levels. These mutltiple choice tests do not test the test takers ability to memorize things neither do they function as IQ tests. Clearly these tests have not proven to serve their purpose of indicating the test takers ability to perform well academically at the undergraduate level or graduate level. Moreover a lot of colleges have strict criteria on the score cut offs and emphasize a lot on the standardized test scores which overlooks the other abilities of the student.
Every year about 2 million students take the standardized test SAT to secure admissions to undergraduate programs in various institutions across the country. It measures the students ability to take tests , doesn’t have to do anything with the overall growth of the student over the course. According to Columbia University’s research on standardized testing, these tests cause teachers to just teach based on these tests and this practice can hinder a student’s overall learning potential . Ultimately this can hinder the student’s creativity and imagination.
Some people are naturally good test takers, Some people are academically bright but do not perform well on standardized tests. This criteria is nowadays taken too seriously by the admissions board of many universities which consider these test scores as the sole criteria to get into their academic programs. They often end up neglecting other aspects of the candidates abilities. Which leads to unfair assessment of the candidates abilities and possible denial of admission to deserving candidates.
Tests like SAT, GRE are also of long durations, most of the times ranging from 3 to 4 hours. Leaving the test takers very tired after finishing up. Also not every test taker performs well under these situations. Attention span varies from test taker to test taker. For example jim may have the stamina to sit four straight