Do foreign college applicants need to take the SAT for US colleges? Why?
Do foreign college applicants need to take the SAT for US colleges? Why?
I was asked to answer the question above on the website quora.com. I have tried to answer this question in ways that apply to all students, international or not.
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The vast majority of colleges and universities in the US require international students to submit SAT or ACT scores. This is, in effect, the national exam by which students are evaluated by many school in the US. Secondary schools across the US vary tremendously in terms of rigor and curriculum. These tests help admission officers get some sense of how a student will perform in their first year in college.
There are actually companies, businesses and graduate schools that now ask for SAT scores too, because there is so much grade inflation in both secondary schools and colleges that these scores often predict, especially at the very high and low end, how a student will do in the real world better than a gpa from a college or university. The data looks pretty good that SAT scores do predict success far better than what most of the critics of the test think:
IQ Tests and the SAT Measure Something Real and Consequential
A student who wants a job at Google or Goldman Sachs had better have very high SATS:
http://www.nytimes.com/20
Students from outside the US attend schools that may or may not prepare students all that well for classes and academic majors within the educational framework of the US system. Students applying from outside the US who are interested in science and engineering need to do quite well on the mathematics sections of the SAT (and on SAT subject tests too if the students are looking at highly selective schools).
The verbal portions of the tests are often used in addition to the TOEFL or IELTS scores international students submit to determine English fluency. If English is not your first language, then you will be required to submit a TOEFL/IELTS score too. Depending on the kind of school you are applying to these scores need to be high. If they are, then your scores on the verbal portion of the SAT may not need to be at or near the same level as domestic applicants.
In addition, there are some places around the globe where there is lots of fraud when it comes to transcripts. For example, in China, the schools themselves often change transcripts of the students applying to US schools as they know that in the US the vast majority of grades given to students are A’s and a transcript with the ‘real’ grades from a Chinese high school will preclude their students from receiving offers of admission from highly selective schools. On top of that, there are many agents in China who alter transcripts too. Given how hard it is to check the accuracy of credentials when schools receive thousands and thousands of applications from around the globe, the schools look carefully at SATS as it is much more difficult to cheat on these tests than to alter a transcript. Despite the stories of cheating scandals about the SAT in Asia, the actual number of active cheaters is not that large. The SAT tests given to students over the past years have contained old questions from previous tests and students in Asia have looked an in many cases memorized these questions and, as a result, do quite well on the tests.
There are a few places around the world where it is very hard to take the SAT. Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and a number of other countries offer few opportunities for students to take the test. If you are from a country that has few testing centers, it may be possible for the school to waive the SAT requirement, but this is only done on a case-by-case basis. You would need to contact the school if you are a place where taking the test is an issue.
It may come as a surprise, but another reason colleges want to see SATs from international student is that in some places (China and Korea for example), the students who take the SATS often have scores far higher than US students. The secondary school with the highest SAT average in the world? Korean Minjook Leadership Academy, located outside of Seoul, Korea: 2260. For comparison, the school in the US with the highest number of National Merit students, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, has an average of 2182. It isn't as though the students from KMLA are 'better' in an statistically significant way, but there are a number of international schools whose students do exceptionally well on SAT/ACT tests, and do far better than most student in the US.
The average SAT scores of incoming students to colleges and universities, both domestic and international, are used to measure the quality of the schools’ students in rankings like the US News and the high scorers from abroad actually increase their selectivity rankings.
Korean high school student's cover of Adele's Hello has gone viral
Over the past several years a significant number of colleges and universities have gone what is called test optional. These schools no longer require students to submit SATs or ACT scores. International students, whose first language in not English however, will still need to take the TOEFL or the IELTS. I would encourage most international students to take the SAT/ACT in part because not to do so will limit the schools a student can apply to. In addition, although the tests are not required by some schools, having scores will help f they are in the range of what most students earn (average SAT scores are published by the school and US News). I encourage international students to also take SAT 2 subject tests in those areas in which they have received strong grades. In many cases students can earn high scores without needing to study for the test itself simply because the curriculum in math and sciences in some countries is far more rigorous than it is for many secondary schools in the US.
There are may people in the US who think standardized tests are useless or even pernicious and hold back true learning. I will not enter into this debate here except to say that the scores students earn at the ends of the bell curve are good predictors. In other word,s students who tend to score in the top 5% of test takers usually do quite well academically in college. Students who score below the bottom 40% tend to struggle in some college level classes and may need to take remedial courses in the first year. Those students looking to get into the most selective schools in the US must take standardized tests and must do exceptionally well (except for a few very special exceptions).
The new version of the ACT and SAT have increased the skills students must demonstrate on the writing portions of the test. These changes may make it more difficult for international students to do as well on that section. Most colleges are not requiting the writing section of the new SAT but once again those students applying to the most selective colleges and universities will need to take the writing suction and submit it. I would encourage students, whether international or not, to work on their writing skills prior to taking the new SAT.
**************************************************************************
The vast majority of colleges and universities in the US require international students to submit SAT or ACT scores. This is, in effect, the national exam by which students are evaluated by many school in the US. Secondary schools across the US vary tremendously in terms of rigor and curriculum. These tests help admission officers get some sense of how a student will perform in their first year in college.
There are actually companies, businesses and graduate schools that now ask for SAT scores too, because there is so much grade inflation in both secondary schools and colleges that these scores often predict, especially at the very high and low end, how a student will do in the real world better than a gpa from a college or university. The data looks pretty good that SAT scores do predict success far better than what most of the critics of the test think:
IQ Tests and the SAT Measure Something Real and Consequential
A student who wants a job at Google or Goldman Sachs had better have very high SATS:
http://www.nytimes.com/20
Students from outside the US attend schools that may or may not prepare students all that well for classes and academic majors within the educational framework of the US system. Students applying from outside the US who are interested in science and engineering need to do quite well on the mathematics sections of the SAT (and on SAT subject tests too if the students are looking at highly selective schools).
The verbal portions of the tests are often used in addition to the TOEFL or IELTS scores international students submit to determine English fluency. If English is not your first language, then you will be required to submit a TOEFL/IELTS score too. Depending on the kind of school you are applying to these scores need to be high. If they are, then your scores on the verbal portion of the SAT may not need to be at or near the same level as domestic applicants.
In addition, there are some places around the globe where there is lots of fraud when it comes to transcripts. For example, in China, the schools themselves often change transcripts of the students applying to US schools as they know that in the US the vast majority of grades given to students are A’s and a transcript with the ‘real’ grades from a Chinese high school will preclude their students from receiving offers of admission from highly selective schools. On top of that, there are many agents in China who alter transcripts too. Given how hard it is to check the accuracy of credentials when schools receive thousands and thousands of applications from around the globe, the schools look carefully at SATS as it is much more difficult to cheat on these tests than to alter a transcript. Despite the stories of cheating scandals about the SAT in Asia, the actual number of active cheaters is not that large. The SAT tests given to students over the past years have contained old questions from previous tests and students in Asia have looked an in many cases memorized these questions and, as a result, do quite well on the tests.
There are a few places around the world where it is very hard to take the SAT. Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan and a number of other countries offer few opportunities for students to take the test. If you are from a country that has few testing centers, it may be possible for the school to waive the SAT requirement, but this is only done on a case-by-case basis. You would need to contact the school if you are a place where taking the test is an issue.
It may come as a surprise, but another reason colleges want to see SATs from international student is that in some places (China and Korea for example), the students who take the SATS often have scores far higher than US students. The secondary school with the highest SAT average in the world? Korean Minjook Leadership Academy, located outside of Seoul, Korea: 2260. For comparison, the school in the US with the highest number of National Merit students, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, has an average of 2182. It isn't as though the students from KMLA are 'better' in an statistically significant way, but there are a number of international schools whose students do exceptionally well on SAT/ACT tests, and do far better than most student in the US.
The average SAT scores of incoming students to colleges and universities, both domestic and international, are used to measure the quality of the schools’ students in rankings like the US News and the high scorers from abroad actually increase their selectivity rankings.
Korean high school student's cover of Adele's Hello has gone viral
Over the past several years a significant number of colleges and universities have gone what is called test optional. These schools no longer require students to submit SATs or ACT scores. International students, whose first language in not English however, will still need to take the TOEFL or the IELTS. I would encourage most international students to take the SAT/ACT in part because not to do so will limit the schools a student can apply to. In addition, although the tests are not required by some schools, having scores will help f they are in the range of what most students earn (average SAT scores are published by the school and US News). I encourage international students to also take SAT 2 subject tests in those areas in which they have received strong grades. In many cases students can earn high scores without needing to study for the test itself simply because the curriculum in math and sciences in some countries is far more rigorous than it is for many secondary schools in the US.
There are may people in the US who think standardized tests are useless or even pernicious and hold back true learning. I will not enter into this debate here except to say that the scores students earn at the ends of the bell curve are good predictors. In other word,s students who tend to score in the top 5% of test takers usually do quite well academically in college. Students who score below the bottom 40% tend to struggle in some college level classes and may need to take remedial courses in the first year. Those students looking to get into the most selective schools in the US must take standardized tests and must do exceptionally well (except for a few very special exceptions).
The new version of the ACT and SAT have increased the skills students must demonstrate on the writing portions of the test. These changes may make it more difficult for international students to do as well on that section. Most colleges are not requiting the writing section of the new SAT but once again those students applying to the most selective colleges and universities will need to take the writing suction and submit it. I would encourage students, whether international or not, to work on their writing skills prior to taking the new SAT.
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