As someone who has made her way through the general education system, I must say that I've always found nearly every aspect of it unfair. From middle school to high school, standardized tests were administered across the nation to place people amongst their peers in terms of intelligence. When applying to undergraduate universities, it is once again expected that the applicants take another standardized test to measure their potential and worth as a student amongst other incoming freshman. And here I, along with many others, stand applying to graduate schools that require us to have taken a final standardized test known as the GREs. Who cares that I spent four years at an undergraduate institution working my butt off to graduate with honors in my degree?
It makes me sick to my stomach that today's society is still one that measures a person's intellectual ability via a standardized test. After sitting through at least 7 standardized tests in my life, the value of them makes no sense to me. For me, I have test anxiety. Being timed and under pressure to answer questions already lowers my ability to perform well. Next comes the subjects of the tests. Half of the time, I find that a majority of the math problems come from a higher level math courses that I never had the chance to take during my time in the education system. So, how is it fair that I'm being tested on material I never had the chance to learn? Of course my score will be below average because I was never given the opportunity to learn it in the first place.
What's even more frightening is the idea that, as a student, my work ethic and ability is not what's most important to the institutions I'm applying to. Yes, I stayed up for endless hours studying and learning material pertinent to my major. Yes, I picked up a minor to gain more credentials. Yes, I worked hard to be on Dean's list. Yes, my professors wrote great letters of recommendation supporting the aforementioned facts. But no, all of that is not what's important to potential future schools. They want to see where I fall amongst the rest of the students applying in America via a standardized test.
But my knowledge cannot be measured via a standardized test. I am more than a silly generalized test. We all are. Give me material relevant to my career path, and I will ace that test. Ask me to present a speech about why I want to go into the career that I chose, and I can bet you I will get an A on that as well. It's passion the defines how a person will do in a certain career. Passion pushes a person to be the best that they can be for something they care about. A test does not determine my ability. Willingness and determination are what measure what kind of student and future SLP, nurse, teacher, doctor or engineer a person will be.
