There is a lot of fuss about college admissions testing and a lot of money (it’s a multi-billion dollar industry) spent on test prep services. In fact, Press coverage last week regarding standardized college entrance exams was all a buzz with the announcement of changes being made to the SAT.
Why is there so much focus on these tests? Because if you want to get in to the school of your choice and if you want to get scholarship money, your ACT/SAT score is the number one determinate.
We’ve even been focusing on the ACT prep here at Horizon Point with our recent blog post and arecent resource release “ACT Tips and Tricks”.
But do these test even matter? Should you even pay to play the game?
Taking into account some things I’ve been reading lately, these test aren’t actual predictors of overall success.
The first chapter of The Millionaire Mind, which is a study in the way millionaires think and what has made them successful, basically rips to shreds the notion that success in school, as indicated by grades and test scores, is an indicator to predicting if someone will be a millionaire (except in the case of millionaire doctors and lawyers, which most millionaires are not of this variety, but are entrepreneurs).
Thomas Stanley the author states,
“Testing has its place in society, but there should be more testing of the intereststhat young people have inside of them. Tell them this: if you want to be successful, select a vocation you love. It’s amazing how well people do in life when their vocation is one that stimulates dedication and positive emotions.”
Stanley proves through data that focusing on selecting a vocation you will love is a better predictor of success than any standardized test score or GPA.
Or consider this quoterecently found in an HR Capitalist Blog Post
“LAST June, in an interview with Adam Bryant of The Times, Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google — i.e., the guy in charge of hiring for one of the world’s most successful companies — noted that Google had determined that “G.P.A.’s are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless. … We found that they don’t predict anything.” He also noted that the “proportion of people without any college education at Google has increased over time” — now as high as 14 percent on some teams. At a time when many people are asking, “How’s my kid gonna get a job?” I thought it would be useful to visit Google and hear how Bock would answer.
The long and short of his answer- The ability to think creatively and process things on the fly is the number one predictor of success at Google.
So should you even play the SAT or ACT “game”?
Unfortunately, yes. In the absence of colleges weighting other criteria higher than standardized tests, which I don’t think is going to happen any time soon because one test score is such an easy method for distinguishing among candidates, if your plan is to go to college, the most effective way to make sure you aren’t paying any more than you have to is to do well on these tests. I’d choose paying $500 for testing prep than an extra $40,000+ for a college education than a 2-3 point difference on the test (ACT that is) can cost you.
If you, however, want to succeed in life, don’t put too much stock in your SAT or ACT score (parents, you’d be well advised to listen to this, too- your kid’s success is not defined by a score on a test). Instead, your overall time is better spent discovering your talents and passions in order to be able to do what you love and think on the fly. Doing these things will lead to millionaire status or a job at Google much quicker than flashing your ACT/SAT on a resume.
