Should Academic Achievement Be a Primary Consideration for College Admission?

Name:
Professor’s Name:
Course:
Date:
Should Academic Achievement Be A Primary Consideration For College Admission?
The question at hand has been at the center of major debates, but there seems to be a great disparity in views. On the one hand, some people argue that academic achievement should indeed be the basic consideration for college admission. However, others disagree with this notion and believe that academic achievement should not be the only consideration for college admission. Both sets of groups provide incredibly detailed and genuinely thought out reasons to support their side. Standardized tests such as SAT’s and ACT have indeed become necessary as well as memorable tests in the lives of students. Currently, a majority of people who have sat for their SATs or ACTs do indeed remember their scores because they either propelled them to their desired college or crushed their dream of joining one. So, who is right? No one wants to concede that either party could be wrong or right in their reasoning. By drawing insights from both sets of arguments, I hope to have a widely researched and fair conclusion on the matter. My conclusion will by no means be right but will be as inclusive of the warring ideas as possible.
First of all, there appears to be a belief that tests such as SATs are holding a majority of bright students back and thus crushing their dreams early in life. According to Peter Coy (2013), the SATs and ACTs are indeed part of the problem. He says that even though these tests are “designed to ferret out hidden talent, the tests have become, for some students at least, barriers to higher education.” He further purports that, scores in these tests “are highly correlated with family income.” Currently, the American education system treats the ACT and the SAT tests as measures of intelligence. However, Peter argues that with such tests as yardsticks, students who never excel in them end up thinking of themselves as losers and failures in life. The hype around these tests is also something that often makes even the brightest students fail these tests while their innate potential is indeed unlike their performance. Ultimately, they get locked out of college admission even though they are blessed with some of the greatest minds on the planet.
It is also important to note that human intelligence cannot be measured by how well or how badly one does in a test. William Hiss, a researcher of the topic at hand once said, “Human intelligence is so multifaceted, so complex, so varied, that no standardized testing system can be expected to capture it.” Hiss’s statement quite elevates this debate and also brings to perspective the notion that analyzing human intelligence by only looking at academic excellence is flawed. Intelligence cannot be captured or assessed by looking at the answers someone provides in a test. Standardized testing often limits a majority of students for various reasons. For example, some students may not be good test-takers and therefore, be considered as failures instead of the bright and able students they are. By sticking to the standardized system of assessing students, colleges seem to miss out on geniuses as well as students with incredibly high intelligent quotients. Everyone is capable of success, but we never excel in the same areas no matter how good we perform in the tests. Therefore, based on this argument, it is indeed better to repeal the current system that only measures intelligence by performance in tests and introduce other systems that will help to measure other elements of human intelligence such as problem-solving skills, exceptional interpersonal skills, etc.
Furthermore, by only using academic achievement as the primary consideration in college admission, colleges fail to look into a student’s pattern of hard work, curiosity, as well as discipline while in high school. While some students find books interesting, others struggle to find their footing and therefore, take a lot of time to make any steps of notice in their school life. The former type of students often take tests easily and pass while the latter take relatively longer to settle in school or even to improve. However, despite their inability to ace their tests, some often exhibit a pattern of hard work as well as discipline throughout their high school life. While it is almost certain that a majority of those who fall in this category will fail academically, we need to ask ourselves whether it is fair to ignore their consistency and hard work. Their diligence is often astounding, and it is reasonable to give them the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Finally, other factors such as work ethic, character, as well as leadership should also be considered alongside academic achievement. It is indeed essential for colleges to consider a student’s academic achievements. However, should other factors such as the student’s character, leadership skills, and ethic be included? The answer is, yes. First of all, colleges need to determine who the student is, which experiences they have had in life, and finally, their response to bad situations and problems. Students should not only exhibit academic prowess but should also be w...