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SAT Subject Tests + Essay Discontinued: How This Impacts College Admissions

What’s covered:.

• Major Changes to the SAT
• Reasons for These Changes
• How This Will Impact the 2020-2021 Admissions Cycle
• Which Students Will This Negatively Impact?
• How Can Students Compensate?

On January 19, 2021, the College Board announced some major changes to the SAT. Here’s a summary of these changes and a deep dive into how they’ll impact college admissions. 

Major Changes to the SAT 

Sat subject tests are discontinued.

SAT Subject Tests will no longer be offered to domestic students, effective immediately. There will still be two more administrations in May and June 2021 for international students. 

Domestic students will have their registration canceled automatically, and they will be refunded.

The College Board states that Subject Tests no longer offer the same value as they once did, as AP exams are now more widely available and cover a greater range of subjects. Eliminating the Subject Tests will also open up seats to students who need to take the SAT (and haven’t had the chance to do so during the pandemic).

Colleges that used to require SAT Subject Tests will decide how to adjust their policy going forward.

The SAT Essay is Discontinued

For similar reasons, the SAT Essay is also no longer offered after June 2021. Only students in select states will have access, if they’re taking the SAT through the SAT School Day program.

Students registered for the Essay in Spring 2021 will have the option to cancel the essay at no extra cost.

The College Board recognizes that there are many other opportunities for students to demonstrate their writing abilities, such as the college essays. The SAT will continue to evaluate writing and editing skills through the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing sections, which are “among the most effective and predictive parts” of the test.

There Will Eventually Be a Fully-Digital SAT

The College Board is making “substantial investments” in developing a digital test, likely encouraged by the pandemic and the difficulty it posed to testing in-person. They state that they will release further details this spring.

Reasons Behind These Changes

Finances and accessibility.

For the College Board, this move is all about finances. Replacing the SAT Subject Tests with AP exams reduces costs. More importantly, it increases revenue because the College Board charges around $30 per SAT Subject Test versus $95 per AP exam. 

By removing Subject Tests, the College Board can save money in administering and scoring the exams, and reduce the operational complexity that goes into setting up testing spaces. Getting rid of the SAT’s essay component makes the test completely multiple-choice, meaning the grading can now be completely automated, and the company saves even more money by not having to pay essay scorers. 

Growing concerns about the SAT catering to more privileged and affluent students may also have factored into this decision. Getting rid of these additional testing requirements may increase perceived accessibility in standardized testing, though students also have unequal access to AP exams. 

The Decline of Subject Tests

Furthermore, SAT Subject Tests were already on the decline. The number of test-takers peaked at 300,000 in 2011, but in recent years, it’s dropped to around 200,000 students. Most universities have eliminated Subject Test requirements, either making the Subject Tests optional or not considering scores at all. Overall, Subject Tests have played less and less of a role in admissions every year, except at the 50-60 most selective colleges in the country. 

The purpose of Subject Tests was to provide another dimension along which colleges could compare applicants. However, top applicants to selective colleges almost always had a score of 750+, usually on multiple exams, so they became less of a competitive advantage and more of a requirement. In addition, the language Subject Tests were mainly being taken by native speakers, which didn’t give colleges helpful information in making admissions decisions, so colleges started to discount strong scores on those exams 

It had reached the point where not taking the Subject Tests could hurt students’ chances of admission, but there was essentially no advantage to having those high scores.

The Redundancy of the SAT Essay

The SAT Essay similarly decreased in importance in the admissions process. On the old version of the SAT (the 2400 point version), the essay used to factor into your overall Writing score. This meant you needed a good score on the essay in order to have a strong Writing score, and a strong SAT score overall. 

Now that the essay is no longer a part of the overall SAT score (on the 1600 point scale), colleges have been giving it less and less weight in the admissions process. The same is true for the ACT essay, and the ACT might end up cancelling its essay section for similar reasons. 

Furthermore, colleges have many other opportunities to evaluate your writing, namely through college essays. Some schools such as Princeton have also started asking for a graded paper as part of the application.

How will this affect the 2021-2022 admissions cycle?

This new policy is going to have a major effect on the 2021-2022 admissions cycle, impacting current juniors and younger students. Due to the pandemic, most universities went test optional or test-blind for the SAT Subject Tests in 2020-2021, meaning they would not require Subject Test scores in the application, and some wouldn’t even consider them if submitted. Given this announcement from the College Board, our projection is that most schools will probably extend these policies moving forward.

Unfortunately if you already have strong SAT Subject Test scores, this means you probably won’t receive much of a boost from them during this admissions cycle.

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of special programs at colleges do require SAT Subject Tests. These include guaranteed admission medical programs (BS/MD programs) and Honors colleges. If you’re interested in these types of programs, you’ll need to keep close track of their specific policies. Consider reaching out to the program in a couple of months to see where they’re at in terms of accepting and considering Subject Test scores. Some programs might ask for AP score or minimum grades in specific courses in lieu of Subject Tests. 

Which students will this negatively impact?

This policy could potentially harm applicants who were banking on high Subject Test scores to give them a competitive advantage. 

If you are homeschooled or attend a school that doesn’t offer AP classes or has an unknown or uncommon course system, the lack of Subject Tests could affect your application negatively. Subject Tests traditionally provide a standardized metric that helps admissions officers compare students from these backgrounds to the larger applicant pool. However, this method of comparison is now gone, making it harder for applicants in these situations to easily be sized up in the admissions process. 

Similarly, this change may hurt you if your extracurricular profile doesn’t match up with your area of interest in academics, and you plan on relying on Subject Tests to demonstrate your ability in a specific field. Others have used Subject tests to make up for poor grades in a course or even to compensate for a weaker overall GPA. Now that the Subject Test advantage is gone, if you’re in these positions will have to compensate in other areas of their application.

How can students compensate?

With this new policy in mind, AP exams, SAT scores, and essays will now all play a slightly bigger role in the decisions process.

The main alternative to Subject Tests will be AP (or IB) tests, which can showcase expertise in a subject area on a national, standardized scale similar to Subject Tests. The Biology, Chemistry, Physics, U.S. History, and World History AP exams all test at about the same level as their Subject Test counterparts. That said, the tests have different formats, and APs have free response and other question styles while the Subject Tests were multiple choice. But, the material itself is essentially the same. 

However, not all Subject Tests have an AP test equivalent. For instance, the AP Literature exams test at a higher level than the Literature subject test, and has an essay component as well. Similarly, the Math I and II exams cover high school material, from Algebra 2 through Precalculus. The AP math tests, Calc AB, BC, and Statistics, don’t really include Precalculus, and have additional material, meaning they’re not directly comparable. 

For languages, AP tests have a Japanese, German, French, Latin, Italian, Chinese, and two different Spanish exams. This more or less lines up with the Subject Tests, although there is no comparable AP exam for Modern Hebrew and Korean.

Outside of math and literature, you’re not missing out on too much as long as you take the AP exams. However, the stakes will ramp up for AP scores and you’ll want mostly 5’s with minimal 4’s to be competitive at top schools that have historically placed importance on Subject Tests. 

The SAT itself will also carry more weight, so you might want to consider doubling down on increasing your score. 

Furthermore, admissions profiles for super selective schools now have one less data point, so there’s going to be an increase in the importance of the subjective elements of your application. This is largely driven by your essays — so expending extra effort on this portion of your application could help alleviate the lost advantage from Subject Tests. 

If you’re a future college applicant, know that we are in unprecedented times and these policy changes are probably the first of many to come. As you craft your admissions profile, it is important to stay informed about any changes and consider how they might impact you. Stay tuned to CollegeVine on our blog and livestreams , where we’re constantly working to research and interpret the most up-to-date data in our admissions tips to help demystify the admissions process. 

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Goodbye, SAT/ACT essay requirements

It’s time to say farewell to the SAT and ACT essays for good. For the past few years, the essay sections have hung by a thread—and the College Board's recent decision to discontinue the SAT's optional essay section means there's a good chance ACT will soon follow suit and scrap its essay section, too.

The College Board's decision was no surprise, as the SAT's optional essay section had become increasingly unpopular. In June 2020, the University of California announced a change to its admissions policies that was a sign of more widespread changes to come. As part of the UC system’s plans to phase out SAT/ACT requirements, the SAT essay score and ACT writing score would no longer be used for admissions decisions . UC President Janet Napolitano’s recommendation to the UC Board of Regents echoed a common refrain, calling the essay “an unnecessary time and cost burden for students.”

Before last year's decision, UC campuses made up the majority of institutions still requiring SAT/ACT essay scores. Even though the College Board and ACT revamped their essay sections about five years ago in an attempt to maintain their relevance and better predict college performance, numerous top-ranked universities—including all Ivy League schools in 2018—dropped their essay requirements in recent years .

Some schools have cited the added cost of the essay section, a financial barrier that can prevent some students from applying, as their primary reason for eliminating the essay requirement. Others have asserted that essay scores are less reliable than grades and AP exams in assessing students’ writing abilities and predicting college performance. Year after year, the number of schools requiring essay scores has dwindled, and the UC system’s latest move seemed to have sound the essay’s final death knell.

Currently, fewer than 10 institutions still require or recommend that students submit essay scores for admissions or placement purposes. In fact, we predict that with most schools having transitioned away from the essay and with the College Board discontinuing the SAT essay, it’s likely the ACT will no longer offer the essay at all in coming years.

Schools that still require or recommend essay scores:

• United States Military Academy
• Martin Luther College
• Molloy College
• Soka University of America
• University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
• University of Montana Western
• Abilene Christian University (recommended)

It’s a safe assumption that these colleges and universities will soon end up dropping their essay requirements as well.

But keep in mind that there's a gray area: most schools not requiring the essay have not stated whether they will still consider essay scores if students choose to submit them. This includes schools like Duke, Harvard, and Stanford.

What does this mean for students?

As always, students should talk to their college counselors about how changing admissions requirements affect their individual testing plans. If you're unsure about a school's policies toward essay scores, it's also a good idea to contact the college's admissions office directly , especially during this time of transition, when policies may be changing or not clearly stated on schools' websites.

A few other considerations:

• If a student knows the schools they're applying to don't look at essay scores, the essay section is likely not worth the added time and cost. Why extend an already long testing experience for a score that won't matter?
• However, if a student has not yet finalized their college list, it may still be better to sit for the essay, just to be safe. If there's any possibility you may apply to one of the few schools requiring or recommending the essay, we recommend getting the essay out of the way the first time you sit for the ACT. Having to squeeze in another test date for the sole purpose of taking the essay can cause unneeded stress later on.

—and the essay is not likely to have a significantly negative impact on a student's chances of admission.

Need more individualized advice?

The recommendations above are general suggestions. If you have specific questions,   reach out to our experts here . We’re happy to help in any way we can.

About ArborBridge

ArborBridge is the global leader in innovative, digital, one-on-one tutoring. With nearly a decade of experience teaching students online, ArborBridge supports students of all kinds: home schoolers, AP students, test preppers, and more. Our tutors specialize in creating personalized plans and in providing compassionate support for students and families.

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SAT Discontinues Subject Tests And Optional Essay

Elissa Nadworny

Eda Uzunlar

Updated at 5:03 p.m. ET

The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue the optional essay component of the SAT and that it will no longer offer subject tests in U.S. history, languages and math, among other topics. The organization, which administers the college entrance exam in addition to several other tests, including Advanced Placement exams, will instead focus efforts on a new digital version of the SAT.

In the announcement, the organization cited the coronavirus pandemic for these changes: "The pandemic accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students."

College entrance exams have had a hard go of it during the pandemic. Many in-person testing dates for the SAT were canceled because of social distancing needs and closed high school buildings; a previous digital version of the SAT was scrapped in June after technical difficulties; and hundreds of colleges have removed the exam from admissions requirements , in some cases permanently.

Few colleges require the optional writing portion of the SAT or the subject tests, though students can still submit them to supplement their college applications. The AP exams have become far more important in demonstrating mastery of subjects and, in some cases, providing college credit.

The Coronavirus Crisis

Colleges are backing off sat, act scores — but the exams will be hard to shake.

"Removing the subject tests can remove a barrier for students," says Ashley L. Bennett, director of college counseling at KIPP Sunnyside High School in Houston. But, she adds, "I believe that standardized testing in general needs to be less emphasized in the college search process."

Elizabeth Heaton advises families about college admissions at College Coach in Watertown, Mass. She thinks the changes could help put some students on a more level playing field. "For students who aren't getting great advising, it is nice to see that they haven't been eliminated from competition just by virtue of not having a test that they may not have known about."

But Catalina Cifuentes, who works to promote college access in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, has reservations. She worries that removing the SAT subject tests will create more barriers for her students, rather than less.

"Hundreds of my students take the subject tests in Spanish and other languages because it provides them an opportunity to show their understanding of a second language," explains Cifuentes.

Many of her students speak a second language at home and would be the first in their family to go to college.

She says her college-bound students often enroll in the University of California and California State University systems, which both require two years of coursework in another language for admission. The SAT foreign-language tests sometimes filled that requirement, but the removal of these exams means Cifuentes will have to shift gears.

"We will need to work closely with our world language teachers to expand on ideas ... for students who already read, write and speak another language," she says.

Her job is all about helping school districts adapt to decisions from colleges and organizations like the College Board, Cifuentes explains.

"Every decision they discuss — there's real repercussions. There's no right or wrong decision, but with everything they do, it should be students first."

Eda Uzunlar is an intern on NPR's Education Desk.

Correction Jan. 20, 2021

A previous version of this story misspelled Ashley L. Bennett's name.

clock This article was published more than  3 years ago

College Board is scrapping SAT’s optional essay and subject tests

Two major stress points in the grueling rituals of college admissions testing are vanishing this year: the optional essay-writing section of the SAT and the supplementary exams in various fields known as SAT subject tests.

The College Board announced Tuesday that it will discontinue those assessments. Citing the coronavirus crisis, officials said the pandemic has “accelerated a process already underway at the College Board to reduce and simplify demands on students.”

The testing organization, based in New York, also revealed the launch of a process to revise the main SAT, aiming to make the admission test “more flexible” and “streamlined” and enable students to take the exam digitally instead of with pencil and paper.

There were few details available on how the main SAT might be changed. David Coleman, chief executive of the College Board, said the organization is not pursuing an at-home version of the exam. He said more information would be coming in April.

The pandemic, which shuttered schools in March and continues to disrupt all levels of education, has created unprecedented turmoil for the SAT and the rival ACT admission test. Many college-bound students have struggled since spring to find testing centers available at the right time and place.

With some exceptions, colleges and universities have ended or temporarily suspended testing requirements. Some college admissions leaders have concluded that SAT or ACT scores are not needed to choose a class and that testing requirements might deter otherwise worthy applicants. Others are making temporary concessions to the reality of the pandemic upheaval and uneven access to testing.

Colleges are ditching required admission tests over covid-19. Will they ever go back?

Spring term delays: New wave of coronavirus uncertainty slams higher education

In 2020, the College Board said, students filed 2.2 million registrations to take the SAT on a weekend. But only about 900,000 tests were taken during those sessions as numerous exam centers closed for public health reasons, sometimes with little notice. Hundreds of thousands more SATs were administered last year through publicly funded programs during school days.

Even before the pandemic, the subject tests and the optional essay were losing influence. Fewer schools were requiring applicants to take them, and many experts questioned their value.

The subject tests, lasting an hour apiece, used multiple-choice questions to cover discrete topics such as math, literature, history, biology, chemistry, physics and various foreign languages. The maximum score for each was 800.

These tests long served a niche role in admissions as a way for students to amass extra credentials showing their prowess for ultracompetitive schools. For many years, Ivy League schools and others, including Georgetown University, recommended, encouraged or accepted subject test scores in addition to the scores they required from the main SAT or ACT. In the high school Class of 2017, about 220,000 students chose to take at least one subject test.

Fewer students are taking them. Few colleges require them. So why are SAT subject tests still needed?

But use of the subject tests has dwindled. The tests also have seemed in some ways to overlap with the College Board’s Advanced Placement testing program. AP tests, which are longer and include free-response questions, have proliferated in recent years. So a student who scored well on an AP calculus test, for example, might wonder why it would be necessary to also take an SAT subject test in math.

“AP provides a much richer and more flexible way for students to distinguish themselves,” Coleman said. The wide availability of AP programs, he said, make subject tests less necessary. More than 1.2 million students in the high school Class of 2019 took at least one AP test.

The College Board said it will no longer offer subject tests to U.S. students, effective immediately, and it will phase them out for international students by next summer.

The main SAT, which takes three hours, not including breaks, has one section on mathematics and another on evidence-based reading and writing. Each is worth up to 800 points. The reading and writing section covers editing and other language skills through multiple-choice questions.

The optional essay adds 50 minutes to the main test. Its score is reported separately and does not factor into the main score. About 1.2 million students in the Class of 2020 took the SAT with the essay — more than half of all who took the exam.

The modern SAT first included an essay prompt in 2005, at the urging of some in higher education, including leaders of the University of California, who thought that an independent measure of free-response writing was essential for admissions.

The most recent version of the essay assessment, which debuted in 2016 , is an analytic writing exercise that asks students to respond to a text. The College Board has said it is meant to resemble a “typical college writing assignment.” The ACT also includes an optional essay.

But enthusiasm for these essays has waned. Many colleges have found the essay scores are not useful or necessary for admissions. In 2018, Harvard University and numerous other highly selective schools dropped their requirement for students to submit an essay score. Last year, University of California officials took the same step as part of a larger policy shift to phase out use of the SAT and ACT.

Pencils down: Major colleges stop requiring essay test for admission

Even though few schools still require the essay scores, many students fret over whether they should take the essay option, and whether their essay scores are good enough to achieve their goals. Now, the College Board is pulling the plug on the essay in all but a few places.

The SAT essay will continue to be offered through June to anyone who wants to take it. After that, the College Board said, it will be available only in certain states, including Delaware and Oklahoma, that use the SAT for school accountability measurement and offer the test during the school day.

Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid at Yale University, applauded the College Board’s announcement. Yale recently stopped considering SAT subject test scores, he said. Quinlan said the SAT’s optional essay had limited value. “The essay score never really became a part of our review process,” Quinlan said.

Quinlan said he is inclined to favor revisions to the SAT that will make it more flexible and accessible and available in a digital format. “They’re going to have to plan, take time, do their due diligence,” he said of the College Board. “It will be a lift, but I think they are up for it.”

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Has the Pandemic Put an End to the SAT and ACT?

Many colleges and universities stopped requiring the tests during Covid, and it is unclear if they will return to testing in the future

Amber Dance, Knowable Magazine

Clara Chaplin had studied. She was ready. A junior at Bethlehem Central High School in Delmar, New York, she was scheduled to take the SAT on March 14, 2020. Then the pandemic hit, and the test was canceled.

The April SAT was canceled too. All through the spring and summer and into the fall, every test date she signed up for was either full or canceled. As she submitted her college applications on November 1, she still didn’t know how she’d score on the SAT she finally would manage to take on November 7.

Many students never made it through the test-center door; the pandemic left much of the high school class of 2021 without an SAT or ACT score to submit. Facing test access challenges and changing application requirements, about half did not submit scores with their applications, according to Robert Schaeffer, executive director of the nonprofit National Center for Fair & Open Testing in Boston. This didn’t bar them from applying to the nation’s most selective colleges as it would have in any other year: Starting in spring 2020, in a trickle that became a deluge, the nation’s most selective colleges and universities responded to the situation by dropping the standardized test score requirement for applicants.

Liberal arts colleges, technical institutes, historically black institutions, Ivies — more than 600 schools switched to test-optional for the 2020-21 application season, and dozens refused to consider test scores at all .

“That is a tectonic change for many schools,” says Rob Franek, editor in chief of the Princeton Review, a test-prep company based in New York City.

The pandemic sped up changes that were already afoot; even before Covid, more than 1,000 colleges had made the tests optional. Many had been turned off by the way the tests perpetuate socioeconomic disparities, limiting their ability to recruit a diverse freshman class. Some groups of students, including those who are Black or Hispanic, non-native English speakers, or low-income, regularly score lower than others. And students with learning disabilities struggle to get the accommodations they need, such as extra time, to perform their best.

Ironically, some early proponents of testing had hoped it would level the playing field, by measuring all students with the same yardstick no matter their background. That goal was never fully realized, but the tests persist because they do correlate to some extent with college grade point averages, offering schools an easy way to predict which students will perform well once they matriculate.

The benefits and risks of testing — real and perceived — have fueled an ongoing, roiling debate among educational scholars, admissions officers and college counselors, and the year of canceled tests gave both sides plenty to chew on. “The debate out there is particularly divisive right now,” says Matthew Pietrefatta, CEO and founder of Academic Approach, a test-prep and tutoring company in Chicago.

As the pandemic wanes, some advocates for equity in higher ed hope that schools realize they never needed the scores to begin with. The virus, Schaeffer says, may have made the point better than three decades of research indicating the feasibility of test-free admissions.

But others, including test-prep tutors and many educators, are apprehensive about the loss of a tool to measure all students the same way. Standardized tests, they say, differ from high-school grades, which vary from school to school and are often inflated. “There is a place for testing in higher ed,” says Jennifer Wilson, who has years of experience as a private test-prep tutor in Oakland, California.

In a post-Covid world, the challenge is to figure out what, precisely, that place should be.

An evolving yardstick

Testing in U.S. college admissions goes back more than a century, and issues of race and inequity dogged the process from the get-go.

During the late 1800s, elite universities held their own exams to assess applicants’ grasp of college prep material. To bring order to the admissions process, leaders of elite universities banded together to develop a common test, to be used by multiple leading universities. This produced the first College Board exams in 1901 , taken by fewer than 1,000 applicants. The tests covered nine areas, including history, languages, math and physical sciences.

In the 1920s, the focus of admissions tests shifted from assessing learned material to gauging innate ability, or aptitude. The idea for many, Schaeffer says, was to find those young men who had smarts but couldn’t afford a prep-school education. That led to the 1926 debut of the College Board’s original Scholastic Aptitude Test, which was spearheaded by Princeton University psychologist Carl Brigham. Across-the-board equality wasn’t exactly the goal. Brigham, who also sat on the advisory council of the American Eugenics Society, had recently assessed the IQs of military recruits during World War I, and opined that immigration and racial integration were dragging down American intelligence. (Brigham later recanted this opinion and broke with the eugenics movement.)

The SAT was widely taken up in the years following World War II as a way to identify scholarly aptitude among returning soldiers seeking to use the GI Bill for their studies. Then, in the 1950s, University of Iowa professor of education E.F. Lindquist argued that it would be better to assess what students learned in school, not some nebulous “aptitude.” He designed the ACT, first administered in 1959, to match Iowa high school curricula.

Today, the ACT includes multiple-choice sections on English, math, reading and science, based on nationwide standards and curricula. The SAT, which is split into two parts covering math and reading and writing, has also adopted the strategy of assessing skills students learn in school, and admissions officers have come to consider SAT and ACT scores interchangeable .

Until the pandemic, scores from one test or the other were required by more than half of U.S. four-year institutions. Among the high school class of 2019, more than 2 million students took the SAT and almost 1.8 million took the ACT. Along with grades and courses taken, test scores topped the list of factors important to admission offices in pre-pandemic times, and were often used as a convenient cutoff: At some universities, candidates below a certain score weren’t even considered.

What are we really measuring?

The very endurance of the test market speaks to the SAT’s and ACT’s perceived value for higher education. People in the industry say the tests address college-relevant skills in reading, writing and math. “Can you edit your own writing? Can you write compelling, clear, cogent arguments? This is about a larger set of skills you’re going to need for college and career,” says Pietrefatta of the test-prep company Academic Approach.

Not that universities take the tests’ value for granted. Many schools have assessed what testing truly gives them, generally finding that higher scores correlate with higher first-year college GPAs and with college graduation rates. The University of California, a behemoth in higher ed with more than 280,000 students in its 10-campus system, has considered, and reconsidered, the value of testing over the past two decades. In the most recent analysis, completed in January 2020, a faculty team found that both high school GPA and test scores predicted college GPA to a similar degree, but considered together, they did even better . Concluding that the test scores added value without discriminating against otherwise-qualified applicants, in April 2020 UC’s Academic Senate, made up of faculty, voted 51-0 (with one abstention) to reinstate the testing requirement once the pandemic subsides.

But later that spring, UC’s governing board unanimously overruled the faculty, making the tests optional due in large part to their perceived discriminatory nature. A lawsuit brought by students with disabilities and minority students later drove UC to ignore all test scores going forward.

Even if test scores can predict college grades, admissions officers are looking for more than that. They seek young adults who will use their education to contribute to society by tackling important challenges, be they climate change, pollution or pandemics. That requires creativity, problem-solving, insight, self-discipline and teamwork — which are not necessarily taught in schools or gauged by standardized tests.

There are ways to test for those qualities, says Bob Sternberg, a psychologist now at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In a 2006 study sponsored by the College Board, maker of the SAT, he and his colleagues tried to predict college GPAs better than the SAT alone can do by adding assessments of analytical, practical and creative skills. To measure creativity, for example, they asked students to provide captions for New Yorker -style cartoons and to write short stories based on titles such as “The Octopus’s Sneakers.” They found that by adding the extra assessments, the researchers doubled their ability to predict college GPA . Student scores on the additional test materials were also less likely to correlate with race and ethnicity than the standard SAT.

Sternberg put these ideas into practice in a previous position he held, as dean of arts and sciences at Tufts University, by adding additional, optional questions to the university’s application form. “When you use tests like this, you find kids who are really adaptively intelligent in a broader sense, but who are not necessarily the highest on the SAT,” he says. And when those students came to the university, he adds, generally “they did great.”

The real problem with testing

The question at the heart of the testing debate is whether relying heavily on the SAT and ACT keeps many students who would do well at college, particularly those from disadvantaged populations, from ever getting a shot. The 2020 UC faculty report found that demographic factors such as ethnicity and parental income also influenced test scores . “If you want to know where people’s zip codes are, use the SAT,” says Laura Kazan, college advisor for the iLead Exploration charter school in Acton, California.

When poor, Black or brown students score lower, it’s not exactly the tests’ fault, says Eric Grodsky, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who analyzed the links between standardized testing and socioeconomic status in the Annual Review of Sociology . That’s because scores reflect disparities in students’ lives before testing. Wealthy students, for example, might have benefited from parents who had more time to read to them as toddlers, all the way through to being able to afford to take both tests, multiple times, to obtain the best score.

Other kids might not even be aware they’re supposed to take a test or that it’s something they can prepare for, says James Layman, director of the Association of Washington Student Leaders, headquartered in Randle, Washington. Students from poorer schools tell him they often don’t hear about test prep or other opportunities, or they lack the time to take advantage of them because they’re busy with jobs or caring for younger siblings. To try to level the field, in 2016 the College Board teamed up with the nonprofit Khan Academy to offer free online SAT prep materials , but even that requires an Internet connection at home and the time and space to take advantage of the program.

Thus, the disparities reflected in test scores result not from a failure of the tests so much as a failure to create a just educational system, Grodsky says. “We don’t do a good job of serving all our kids.” And if test scores determine one’s future opportunities, using them can perpetuate those inequities.

That suggests that admissions officers should, perhaps, turn to high-school grades. But those are fraught with their own set of issues, such as inflation. In one example, a recent study tracked algebra grades at North Carolina schools for a decade and reported that more than one-third of students who got a B in Algebra weren’t even rated “proficient” in the subject on a state test. Moreover, between 2005 and 2016, average GPAs at wealthy schools rose by 0.27 points, compared to just 0.17 points at less affluent schools.

Of course, wealth and demographics also influence access to other pre-college resources, such as advanced coursework and extracurriculars. But ranking applicants by test scores is particularly likely to put people of certain races on the top or the bottom of the list, argued Saul Geiser, UC Berkeley sociologist and former director of admissions research for the UC system, in a 2017 article.

Clearly, the tests aren’t all good, or all bad. There’s a lot of nuance, says Pietrefatta: The tests offer value in terms of the skills they assess and the predictions they make, even as they remain unfair to certain groups of people who haven’t been positioned to master those skills. This leaves colleges that value both diversity and well-prepared freshmen trying to strike a delicate, perhaps impossible, balance between the two.

Building a class, test-free: Admissions in Covid times

The pandemic forced a number of universities to rebalance their approach to admissions, leaving them no choice but to experiment with ditching standardized tests. And the results weren’t so bad.

Name-brand schools like Harvard experienced a massive spike in applications. The UC system saw applications for fall 2021 admission balloon by 15 percent over those for 2020 . At UC Berkeley and UCLA, applications from Black students rose by nearly 50 percent , while applications from Latinos were up by about a third.

To choose among all those college hopefuls, many institutions took a holistic approach — looking at factors such as rigor of high school curriculum, extracurriculars, essays and special circumstances — to fill in the gaps left by missing test scores.

Take the case of Wayne State University in Detroit, where before Covid, high school GPA and standardized test scores were used as a cutoff to hack 18,000 applications down to a number the university’s eight admissions counselors could manage. “It was just easier,” says senior director of admissions Ericka M. Jackson.

In 2020, Jackson’s team changed tack. They made test scores optional and asked applicants for more materials, including short essays, lists of activities and evaluation by a high school guidance counselor. Assessing the extra material required assistance from temporary staff and other departments, but it was an eye-opening experience, Jackson says. “I literally am sometimes in tears reading the essays from students, what they’ve overcome … the GPA can’t tell you that.”

Many students were thrilled that they didn’t have to take standardized tests. At the iLead Exploration charter school, last year’s college hopefuls included several who may not have even applied in a normal year, Kazan says. “There were so many people that came to me, so happy and so excited, and so eager to apply to college, when before they were in fear of the test.” And when the admissions letters came in, she adds, the students had “phenomenal” success. Seniors were admitted to top schools including UCLA, USC and NYU.

The road ahead

Kazan has high hopes for the senior class of ’22, too, and won’t be pressuring anyone to sign up for a standardized test, even if exam dates are more accessible as the pandemic wanes. That’s because many institutions plan to see how test-optional admissions go, for a year or more, before reconsidering the value of the tests. More than 1,500 of them have already committed to a test-optional policy for the upcoming admissions season.

For hints of what’s to come if they continue along that road, admissions officers can look to schools that have been test-optional for years, even decades.

Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, dropped the SAT requirement in 1984, asking for alternative test scores instead, before making all testing optional in 1990. In 2011, Bates took a look back at more than two decades of test-optional admissions, and how enrollees fared after they came to college. Dropping the test requirement led to an increase in the diversity of Bates’s applicants, with major growth in enrollment of students of color, international attendees and people with learning disabilities. Once those students reached college, the achievement difference between students who submitted test scores and those who didn’t was “negligible,” says Leigh Weisenburger, Bates’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid. Those who submitted test scores earned an average GPA of 3.16 at Bates, versus 3.13 for non-submitters . The difference in graduation rates was just one percent.

The landscape will be forever shifted by the events of the pandemic, says Jim Jump, academic dean and director of college counseling at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia. “The toothpaste is not going back in the tube.” One big factor, he says, is the fact that the University of California won’t look at test scores anymore. That means many California students won’t bother to take a standardized test, Jump says, making it hard for schools hoping to recruit Californians to require them.

There will, of course, be holdouts, he adds: The most elite, selective schools may be immune to that pressure. And universities that receive lots of applications might go back to a test-score cutoff to bring the pile of applications down to a manageable number, saving on the time and effort that holistic admissions entail.

The ultimate solution to the dilemma may lie in flexibility. “I think it should be optional from now on,” says Chaplin, who was fully satisfied with her SAT score after she finally managed to take the test, and is headed for highly ranked Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. This would allow strong test-takers to shine but also let applicants showcase other strengths.

Students at the Association of Washington Student Leaders agree, Layman says — they don’t think test scores truly reflect who they are.

“There are other ways,” they tell him, “for colleges to get to know us, and us them.”

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ACT Writing and SAT Essay Requirements

On january 19th, 2021, college board announced that they will no longer administer the sat subject tests in the u.s. and that the essay would be retired. read our blog post  to understand what this means in the near term and what the college board has in store for students down the road., our articles on subject tests and the sat essay will remain on our site for reference purposes as colleges and students transition to a revised testing landscape. as an admission tool, students should consider the essay as canceled. compass recommends our students forgo the sat and act optional essays on future exams..

The SAT Essay and ACT Writing continue to pose a conundrum for students. While College Board and ACT have made these components optional, a small number of colleges continue to require or recommend them. Compass believes that students should no longer take the SAT Essay or ACT Writing unless they are applying to (or thinking about applying to) one of the few colleges that still requires the essay. Students who have already taken the essay should not be overly concerned about scores. One reason the essay is fading away is that the scores simply aren’t that accurate or useful. Colleges never really found a use for them, and the essays created an unnecessary obstacle for some applicants.

Rather than worrying about an essay score that is mostly ignored by colleges, Compass believes students should spend their time strengthening the more valuable pieces of their academic portfolio: high school GPA and, more specifically, success in rigorous courses like APs. Compass offers AP and academic tutoring in over 50 subjects to help students stay on pace with their coursework. Our team of subject specific expert tutors will guide the program from start to finish. We also offer a Study Skills and Organizational Coaching program to provide students with the tools they need to excel in the classroom.

The following table of popular colleges provides a wide range of institutions and policies.

Colleges with essay optional policies often do not specify whether submitted essay scores will be used for admission. When the college explicitly states that scores will not be evaluated, we have listed the policy as “Not Considered.” “Optional” should not be interpreted as meaning that the college uses submitted scores. We recommend contacting the school if you have specific questions.

ACT and SAT Essay Requirements - Class of 2019 and Beyond

* In response to COVID-19, these schools have announced temporary test optional or test blind policies, which also effects their essay requirements and recommendations. Please check with the individual schools for more information.

** University of Montana Western has students submit ACT Writing in order to satisfy English proficiency requirements.

Post a comment or send an email to [email protected] with questions or recommended changes.

Related posts:

ACT Writing scores have gone through multiple changes. To try to clear things up, Compass has published ACT Writing Scores Explained . A similar analysis for the SAT is also available.

Our College Profiles page  provides SAT and ACT scores for some of the most competitive colleges in the country.

Score choice and superscoring policies can be found for more than 400 popular colleges and universities.

Subject Test requirements continue to evolve, so Compass keeps an up-to-date list.

Updated 6/24/2020

About Art Sawyer

Art graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, where he was the top-ranked liberal arts student in his class. Art pioneered the one-on-one approach to test prep in California in 1989 and co-founded Compass Education Group in 2004 in order to bring the best ideas and tutors into students' homes and computers. Although he has attained perfect scores on all flavors of the SAT and ACT, he is routinely beaten in backgammon.

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Hi Art, Hope you are staying safe. Son is sophomore who will be taking the September ACT. He is not a great writer, does not like writing, and does not want to take the writing portion. He likely will score in the 33-35 range and apply to a variety of schools (a couple top [sub-10% acceptance rate] privates and top publics, as well as some less competitive universities and colleges). Not applying to any UC schools. Do you think lacking the writing score — which likely would be average — will hurt him? Put another way, would doing the writing help him at schools where it is “optional” assuming his score is not great but not terrible? Thanks. ST

ST, If colleges were completely honest, they would admit that the Writing test is dead. Some won’t state it so bluntly because it sounds like writing is not important. I don’t think there will be any colleges that care about your son’s Writing score by the time he applies. He should pass on it in September.

Thanks Art — appreciate the great advice here and on this web site generally!

If I’m understanding correctly, the only students who need to be taking the writing/essay exams are those applying to the first 9 schools on your list that are “required” or “recommended”? In this wild west post-Covid era of college testing where it seems the only constant thing is change, it is hard to understand why anyone would still take the essay portion if they aren’t applying to any of those 9 schools. We are in CA so it used to be needed for the UC’s but as you noted even that has changed. So now post-Covid, do you still advise most of your students to take the writing exams, or feel that there is “more upside than downside” to taking them? My 11th grader previously did the SAT w/essay and scored 760 R&W, 650 M, and 4/4/5 on the essay. He’ll be retaking it to improve his math score, or possibly switching over to the ACT since SAT isn’t offered this summer (He was scheduled for the March exam that was cancelled the day before, so we are re-evaluating our options). Thanks very much for your insight.

BSS, I’d go even a step further and say that — except for students applying to West Point — the essay can finally be retired. I’m not sad to see it go!

Given that your son is already considering the ACT, I’d recommend looking at July ACT and August SAT dates. Not that he needs to take both, but the strategy is a hedge against cancellations. Registration for some students just opened up for the SAT dates, but it sounds like your student will need to wait until registration goes wider on June 3.

Duke: “Recommended” Duke website: “We do not require the optional essay.” https://admissions.duke.edu/apply/ I don’t see anywhere that they recommend it.

Also, on your Subject Test page: Duke: “Recommended Strongly ” Duke website: “We do not require Subject Tests.” I see nothing that would indicate it is “Recommended Strongly”. https://admissions.duke.edu/apply/

Caltech – “Optional” Caltech website – “Caltech also does not require the SAT Essay or ACT Writing exam sections. These sections will not be considered in the application review process.” http://admissions.divisions.caltech.edu/apply/first-yearfreshman-applicants/standardized-tests

I believe the vast, vast majority of the colleges you list as “Optional” similarly don’t even consider a writing score.

Thanks for reaching out! And thank you, in particular, for the Duke update. Just a few weeks ago we checked their site and they still had Subject Tests listed as recommended strongly with the “or ACT” twist. We’ve updated the Subject Test page to reflect that. We still have Duke listed as recommending the essay because of this: https://today.duke.edu/2018/07/duke-makes-sat-essay-act-writing-test-optional-applicants (this announcement is from almost two years ago, but we haven’t heard anything to specifically counter it.)

We recognize that the essay is becoming increasingly less relevant in admissions, and we have plans to revisit this list and put the “Optional” schools in better context.

Hello Mr. Sawyer, I have an SAT score of 1510 and my essay score is 5/4/6 should I consider taking the SAT again to improve the essay score if I plan to apply to the top universities such as Harvard, Yale and Duke.

Mazin, You should not repeat the SAT just because of your Essay score. You may have seen the news yesterday that College Board is phasing out the Essay. It is simply no longer a concern.

Mr. Sawyer, what are you thoughts on the ACT writing (essay). Do you expect it to follow suit and discontinue it like the SAT essay?

Marjorie, My first thought is that — ACT’s decision aside — students should not take the Writing test. It is disappearing for good reason — it’s just not very good or useful.

ACT will make a business decision, just as College Board did — although not necessarily with the same immediate result. ACT may want to retain the fees it is receiving for the Writing test. It may also try to wait just long enough not to seem that it is following College Board’s lead. ACT typically implements changes during its school calendar year of Sept – July. I would not be surprised to see the essay discontinued after the summer administrations.

Mr. Sawyer-Wanting some advice. My junior just took the ACT and scored a 33 composite with a 35 in English and a 34 in reading. Our school had recommended the writing test so he took it and bombed it with a 6/12. He has taken all honors and AP English classes offered and done excellent. GPA is 3.95 unweighted. I wonder if his horrible handwriting played a role but now he is stuck with a 6 on writing. Should he retake the test just to improve that score? If so does he take it with writing again or simply try to score a 33 without writing and submit that score. He’s looking at Carleton, Pomona, Grinnell along with some others.

Sarah, One of the reasons the essay has been abandoned is just how fluky the results can be. I would not recommend retesting only to raise his Writing score.

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., sample act essay prompt (and how to tackle it).

Are you taking the ACT with Writing? No need to stress! The ACT essay follows a predictable format, which means you can practice and prepare beforehand. Take a look at a sample ACT writing prompt and learn five key steps to penning a high-scoring essay.

Keep in mind: The ACT writing essay is optional. Currently, only 27 colleges and universities require the ACT with Writing. You can see the complete list  here . If there is any chance that you might apply to one of those schools, you should register for the ACT with Writing. Not sure where you will apply? You should strongly consider signing up for the essay and keep your options open.

ACT with Writing: Sample Prompt

This example writing prompt comes straight from our book ACT Prep :

Education and the Workplace

Many colleges and universities have cut their humanities departments, and high schools have started to shift their attention much more definitively toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and away from ELA (English, Language Arts). Representatives from both school boards and government organizations suggest that the move toward STEM is necessary in helping students to participate in a meaningful way in the American workplace. Given the urgency of this debate for the future of education and society as a whole, it is worth examining the potential consequences of this shift in how students are educated in the United States.

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the shift in American education.

Write a unified, coherent essay in which you evaluate multiple perspectives on the issue of how schools should balance STEM and ELA subjects. In your essay, be sure to:

• analyze and evaluate the perspectives given
• state and develop your own perspective on the issue
• explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of the others, in partial agreement, or wholly different. Whatever the case, support your ideas with logical reasoning and detailed, persuasive examples.

How to Write the ACT Essay

Your job is to write an essay in which you take some sort of position on the prompt, all while assessing the three perspectives provided in the boxes. Find a way to anchor your essay with a unique perspective of your own that can be defended and debated, and you are already in the upper echelon of scorers.

Step 1: Work the Prompt

What in the prompt requires you to weigh in? Why is this issue still the subject of debate and not a done deal?

Step 2: Work the Perspectives

Typically, the three perspectives will be split: one for , one against , and one in the middle . Your goal in Step 2 is to figure out where each perspective stands and then identify at least one shortcoming of each perspective. For the example above, ask yourself: 

• What does each perspective consider?
• What does each perspective overlook?

Read More: What's a Good ACT Score?

Step 3: Generate Your Own Perspective

Now it's time to come up with your own perspective! If you merely restate one of the three given perspectives, you won’t be able to get into the highest scoring ranges. You’ll draw from each of the perspectives, and you may side with one of them, but your perspective should have something unique about it.

Step 4: Put It All Together

Now that you have your ideas in order, here's a blueprint for how to organize the ACT essay. This blueprint works no matter what your prompt is.

Step 5: (If There's Time): Proofread

Spend one or two minutes on proofreading your essay if you have time. You’re looking for big, glaring errors. If you find one, erase it completely or cross it out neatly. Though neatness doesn’t necessarily affect your grade, it does make for a happy grader.

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The Optional SAT Essay: What to Know

Tackling this section of the SAT requires preparation and can boost some students' college applications.

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Even though an increasing number of colleges are dropping standardized test requirements, students who must write the SAT essay can still stand to gain from doing so.

Although the essay portion of the SAT became optional in 2016, many students still chose to write it to demonstrate strong or improved writing skills to prospective colleges.

In June 2021, the College Board opted to discontinue the SAT essay. Now, only students in a few states and school districts still have access to — and must complete — the SAT essay. This requirement applies to some students in the SAT School Day program, for instance, among other groups.

How Colleges Use SAT, ACT Results

Tiffany Sorensen Sept. 14, 2020

Whether or not to write the SAT essay is not the biggest decision you will have to make in high school, but it is certainly one that requires thought on your part. Here are three things you should know about the 50-minute SAT essay as you decide whether to complete it:

• To excel on the SAT essay, you must be a trained reader.
• The SAT essay begs background knowledge of rhetoric and persuasive writing.
• A growing number of colleges are dropping standardized test requirements.

To Excel on the SAT Essay, You Must Be a Trained Reader

The SAT essay prompt never comes unaccompanied. On the contrary, it follows a text that is about 700 words long or approximately one page. Before test-takers can even plan their response, they must carefully read and – ideally – annotate the passage.

The multifaceted nature of the SAT essay prompt can be distressing to students who struggle with reading comprehension. But the good news is that this prompt is highly predictable: It always asks students to explain how the author builds his or her argument. In this case, "how” means which rhetorical devices are used, such as deductive reasoning, metaphors, etc.

Luckily, the author’s argument is usually spelled out in the prompt itself. For instance, consider this past SAT prompt : “Write an essay in which you explain how Paul Bogard builds an argument to persuade his audience that natural darkness should be preserved.”

Due to the essay prompt’s straightforward nature, students should read the passage with an eye toward specific devices used by the author rather than poring over “big ideas.” In tour SAT essay, aim to analyze at least two devices, with three being even better.

The SAT Essay Begs Background Knowledge of Rhetoric and Persuasive Writing

Since your SAT essay response must point to specific rhetorical devices that the author employs to convince the reader, you should make it a point to intimately know 10-15 common ones. The more familiar you are with rhetorical devices, the faster you will become at picking them out as you read texts.

Once you have read the passage and identified a handful of noteworthy rhetorical devices, you should apply many of the same essay-writing techniques you already use in your high school English classes.

For instance, you should start by brainstorming to see which devices you have the most to say about. After that, develop a concise thesis statement, incorporate quotes from the text, avoid wordiness and other infelicities of writing, close with an intriguing conclusion, and do everything else you could imagine your English teacher advising you to do.

Remember to always provide evidence from the text to support your claims. Finally, leave a few minutes at the end to review your essay for mistakes.

A Growing Number of Colleges Are Dropping Standardized Test Requirements

In recent years, some of America’s most prominent colleges and universities – including Ivy League institutions like Harvard University in Massachusetts, Princeton University in New Jersey and Yale University in Connecticut – have made submission of ACT and SAT scores optional.

While this trend began as early as 2018, the upheaval caused by COVID-19 has prompted many other schools to adopt a more lenient testing policy, as well.

Advocates for educational fairness have long expressed concerns that standardized admissions tests put underprivileged students at a disadvantage. In light of the coronavirus pandemic , which restricted exam access for almost all high school students, colleges have gotten on board with this idea by placing more emphasis on other factors in a student’s application.

To assess writing ability in alternative ways, colleges now place more emphasis on students’ grades in language-oriented subjects, as well as college application documents like the personal statement .

The fact that more colleges are lifting their ACT/SAT requirement does not imply that either test or any component of it is now obsolete. Students who must write the SAT essay can still stand to gain from doing so, especially those who wish to major in a writing-intensive field. The essay can also demonstrate a progression or upward trajectory in writing skills.

The SAT essay can give a boost to the college applications of the few students to whom it is still available. If the requirement applies to you, be sure to learn more about the SAT essay and practice it often as you prepare for your upcoming SAT.

13 Test Prep Tips for SAT and ACT Takers

Tags: SAT , standardized tests , students , education

About College Admissions Playbook

Stressed about getting into college? College Admissions Playbook, authored by Varsity Tutors , offers prospective college students advice on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, SAT and ACT exams and the college application process. Varsity Tutors, an advertiser with U.S. News & World Report, is a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. The company's end-to-end offerings also include mobile learning apps, online learning environments and other tutoring and test prep-focused technologies. Got a question? Email [email protected] .

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The SAT Announces Cancellation Of Essay & Subject Tests

• Updated On December 15, 2023
• Published In SAT 👩‍🎓

The results of the SAT, a standardised test, are essential for your entry to some of the most prestigious universities in the USA and Canada. It assesses an individual’s ability to solve mathematical equations and speak the English language. Over the years, the SAT has seen its fair share of alterations. Since the coronavirus hit our lives, we’ve been left to adapt to the realities of the world, especially students wanting to get admission into well-known universities.  The College Board, the organisation which administers the SAT test , is also ensuring the universities adapt to the times. That is why they’re making some changes to reduce the demands of students as well. One of the major changes from their end is cancelling the SAT Easy test. This decision by the Board was taken last year. In this blog, we’ll cover this new change, what it means for the students, and how the SAT Essay Cancelled affect college admissions.

Table of Contents

SAT Essay Cancelled

As per the notification by the College Board, they will no longer offer the SAT Essay to high school students. It means that school students will no longer be able to schedule to take the SAT Essay exam. However, there’s an exception to this rule. If a student is required to take the SAT Essay exam as part of the high school graduation requirements, they may take the test. Although, there’s a good chance that the states requiring this will drop the requirement in the future. As a student, you must be up to date with the latest updates by staying in touch with your guiding counsellors or high school administrators.

SAT Subject Test Discontinued

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Like the SAT Essay, the College Board has also decided to cancel the SAT Subject Test. As per the Board, this test doesn’t offer the same value that it once did. The Board used to offer subject tests on topics like grammar, world history, Latin, modern Hebrew, and math.

Reasons For Discontinuing SAT Essay

As mentioned above, the Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for everyone. However, it was especially tough on high school students and the College Board. The SATs were cancelled repeatedly, while many institutes dropped the SAT requirement entirely in the 2020-2022 phase of admissions. The College Board felt that dropping the SAT essay would help reduce the demands for students for now and in the future. Many experts feel that this decision is also a timely and practical one because most universities don’t require SAT Essay scores as part of the admissions process. Many students had already started dropping the SAT Essay test before this notification. In 2020, hardly 57% of students took the essay section with the SAT exam. That is why it’s believed the College Board may have dropped the SAT essay for operational and financial reasons, as well. Getting rid of the essay portion makes the SAT test entirely multiple-choice, allowing automated grading to occur. As a result, the Board would not have to pay the essay scorers. Moreover, it would also pave the way for a level playing field. Many felt that SAT only catered to the privileged and affluent students. Getting rid of the SAT Essay and subject test requirements may enhance perceived accessibility in standardised testing. For similar reasons, the ACT might end up cancelling the ACT Essay, as well.

Reasons For Discontinuing SAT Subject Test

The main reason behind discontinuing the SAT Subject test is the expanded reach of AP exams. With each passing year, AP tests have become more widespread and cover a range of subjects. Moreover, eliminating the subject tests will open seats to students who need to take the SAT and haven’t had the chance to do so due to the coronavirus pandemic. The widespread availability of the AP exam had led to most universities eliminating the subject test requirements. Plus, the language subject tests were mainly being taken by native speakers. So, colleges were not getting vital information in making admission decisions through this test.

Impact of Cancellation on the Students

To put it simply, students wouldn’t be able to take the SAT Essay test unless it is a part of an SAT School Days Requirements. This notification is most impactful for students who had planned to use their essay scores to make their applications stand out from the crowd. For instance, there have been students in the past who’d hoped their essay scores would help overcome a low overall GPA or math score. However, that wouldn’t be an option for the students anymore.

Impact of Cancellation on Admission Process

If your college required the SAT essay in the past, there are going to be various changes that one may see in the admission process. While some universities or schools may drop the essay requirement, others may ask you to submit additional writing samples to fulfil that requirement. Something similar is also possible with departments that used the SAT Essay for the selection process. So, students applying to literature degrees or programmes that require lots of writing (rigorous writing skills) may have to submit additional college essays samples or take a department-specific placement test. However, this decision likely wouldn’t change anything for students applying to universities where the SAT Essay wasn’t a college admissions process requirement in the first place. The reason is that the admission process isn’t affected by the College Board’s policies.

Next Moves to be Made by the Students

Students should check with their potential universities and schools about the admission process. It’ll allow them to see how the new SAT Essay policies will affect their chances and college application. In such a scenario, admission counsellors can be a great help. Some colleges might ask for AP subject test scores or minimum grades in place of subject tests in specific courses from an applicant. SAT Exam For 2022

Encouraged by the coronavirus pandemic, the College Board has been making substantial investments in making the SAT more inclusive and relevant. That is why last year, the College Board announced to discontinue the SAT Essays and Subject Test. This decision was made by the board to reduce the demand on students for both the present and the future. Plus, they feel that these sections do not offer the same value that they once did. Many colleges had already removed SAT essays scores as a selection criterion some years back. Moreover, AP tests have become widely available and cover various subjects, making them a potent replacement for SAT subject tests. They are of greater importance than ever. While the SAT Essay was an optional essay, the decision of discontinuing it is a major one. For further info on the SAT, like the registration deadline and test date information, book a free counselling session on LeapScholar today.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Will colleges still consider Essay scores if I submit them? 

They might. It will vary from college to college. That is why it is best to check with the colleges that you are interested in studying about their application process. Some may consider or require an optional SAT essay as part of their holistic review process.

How can I show my skills in specific subject areas without the opportunity to take SAT subject tests? 

Many colleges use AP scores as an indicator of a student’s ability and interest in a particular subject area. Plus, colleges also have access to the performance of an applicant in specific subjects areas through SAT scores, ACT scores, and high school transcripts, amongst others. So, you can check directly with the colleges you will apply to for alternative ways to support your application.

How can I make my college application stand out now that the SAT Essay is discontinued? 

Some ways to make your college application or registration stand out are showcasing a potent GPA, strong test scores, extracurricular experience, work experience, compelling LORs, and volunteering experience.

Is the SAT Essay Cancelled? If yes, what is the main reason behind it?

As per the College Board, the primary reason for cancelling SAT Essay was to reduce the demand on students. However, reducing finances and making the SAT more accessible for students are also key reasons.

Lalitha Manjunath

My 8-year long journey as a SAT trainer has been paved with considerable success, excellent feedback, and extremely satisfactory learning outcomes.

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Conservatives Are Getting Comfortable Talking Openly About a National Abortion Ban

After this week’s oral argument, few court watchers believe the Supreme Court is now ready to limit the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to approve mifepristone , a drug used in more than half of all abortions , as opponents of abortion sought. At oral argument in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine , it did not appear that the plaintiff doctors persuaded the court that the law inflicted injuries that would give them standing to sue. The reason for the justices’ skepticism is not hard to find. The doctors built their case on a mountain of remote possibilities. Patients might suffer complications from mifepristone—a drug with an impressively low complication rate—and might seek treatment at emergency rooms, where the plaintiffs may happen to practice, when the plaintiffs might not be able to find another physician willing to intervene. And all of that might mean that the plaintiffs would have to act in violation of their conscience. But then again, it might not. That’s why this case seems dead on arrival: The justices seemed unwilling to engage in the sort of rank speculation the plaintiffs have in mind. If this chain of hypotheticals is enough, anyone can bring a constitutional challenge to any drug approval or any law.

But the case was also a vehicle for advancing ever more expansive conscience-based arguments that have become common currency among Christian conservatives—claims of the kind we have seen in well-known cases like the 2014 Hobby Lobby decision recognizing conscience objections to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act or even last year’s ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis that allowed a conservative Christian graphic designer to refuse to make custom websites for same-sex weddings.

Today, those with conscience-based objections seek more than to pray or dress in conformity with religious belief. They object to laws providing Americans access to health care or freedom from discrimination. Compliance with these laws, they claim, would make the objector complicit in the assertedly sinful conduct of others.

Objectors bringing this new generation of complicity-based conscience claims invite courts to deny other Americans the protections of the law. In the FDA case, the plaintiffs do not even seek an exemption from the law; through an expansive standing claim, the doctors claim the only way the court could protect their conscience is to strike down FDA approvals providing all Americans access to medication abortion. Simply having mifepristone on the market, they argue, risks making them complicit in abortion.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson zeroed in on the problems with this argument. She observed that Erin Hawley, the attorney for the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had identified a “broad” and “narrow” idea of conscience. The “narrow” reading was straightforward: “participating in a procedure.” This reading had problems of its own: In fact, no doctor was obliged to prescribe mifepristone, and in any event, federal law provides doctors conscience protections.

Yet Hawley didn’t think complicity ended there. Jackson seemed confused. Did Hawley mean that a handful of other doctors who participated in post-abortion procedures, such as the removal of tissue, were also complicit? Or was Hawley asking the court to recognize the complicity claims of someone who worked in an emergency room where abortions took place, or handed an abortion provider a water bottle?

Jackson spotlighted a defining feature of “conscience-war” claims that one of us (Reva Siegel), writing with Douglas NeJaime, has identified : Conservatives assert ever-expanding complicity-based conscience claims, urging the government to accommodate their claims without making any provision for other Americans who would lose the protection of law. Appealing to the value of conscience obscures the material and dignitary harm that accommodating the objection inflicts on others.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed this point: While the plaintiffs could not say their conscience had been or would be harmed, their claim to conscience obscured harm done to a variety of other parties. That includes the FDA, which had its own scientific judgments displaced, and the pharmaceutical industry, which relies on the FDA approval process to ensure some sort of uniform industry standards. First and foremost, it includes, as Prelogar noted, “women who need access to medication abortion .”

Conscience claims have been alluring to conservatives because, like colorblindness, they allow conservatives to speak as a “minority,” and to assert traditional family values as individual freedom claims. But there is a telling shift. When groups like Alliance Defending Freedom asserted complicity-based conscience claims at the time of Hobby Lobby , they worried about losing in a Supreme Court that was far less conservative—and about alienating a Republican Party that still prioritized electability rather than ideological purity.

By contrast, in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, ADF talked not only about protecting women or safeguarding conscience; it made claims around the Comstock Act, a symbol of Victorian sexual morality focused not on protecting fetal life but on discouraging illicit sex , that ADF seeks to reinvent as a de facto national abortion ban. ADF argued that FDA could not have had the authority to approve telehealth abortions in 2021 because the Comstock Act bars the mailing of abortion pills—and indeed, any abortion-related item. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both seemed interested in transforming the 1873 Comstock Act into an abortion ban that American voters would never choose to enact. Alito seemed shy about mentioning Comstock by name, instead referring to the hard-to-recognize number in the U.S. Code. Thomas was not so reserved, all but telling attorneys for Danco, the maker of the name-brand mifepristone, that the Comstock Act barred the mailing of the drug.

The very fact that ADF wants to talk about the Comstock Act is remarkable. It seems unwise to hitch the anti-abortion movement’s star to a 19 th -century anti-vice movement known for “Comstockery”: censoring political speech, undermining democratic norms, and condemning any form of sex not intended for procreation .

Voters have already rejected state abortion bans. Just imagine what most Americans would make of it if an already unpopular Supreme Court interpreted a law from 1873 as a sweeping, punitive zombie abortion ban. But worrying about the public’s reaction assumes the movement is seeking to persuade voters rather than simply looking for ways to use power to enforce traditional family values and punish those who become pregnant or might provide them medical care. Anti-abortion groups are planning to revive enforcement of the Comstock Act if Donald Trump wins the presidency , claiming they would not need Congress to act .

The argument in the mifepristone case was a potent reminder of why conservatives have gravitated to conscience claims—and demonstrated the hidden harms that these claims can inflict on other Americans. But the conversation at the Supreme Court this week also suggested that conservatives are preparing to express the values underlying complicity-based conscience claims more openly. As it gains power, members of the anti-abortion movement seem increasingly ready to take off the mask.

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Chapter 4: Convincing Discourses

4.3.2 #canceled (research essay)

Melanie Wroblewski

English 102, April 2021

With the pandemic we can look back on a year of things cancelled. Holidays were cancelled. Sporting events were cancelled. Concerts were cancelled. While 2020 was the big year of all good things cancelled many would say that the year itself should be cancelled. Certainly, the main   reasons   the year was hated was that most work and schools went online with   Zoom   and it was hard to get a roll of toilet paper. Would I go as far to say 2020 was a god-awful year? Of course, I worked in a grocery store and people were insane. Would I say it needs to be cancelled? Well, no because that   doesn’t   really apply in this setting. We had a lot of canceled events but to cancel the year is hard because in principle cancelling   doesn’t   work that way. Why   doesn’t   cancelling apply in this setting? Well, what is cancelling to begin with?   Is cancel culture beneficial in society? Can someone truly be cancelled, who does cancel culture   hurt? Is cancel culture   hurting   more than helping? When has cancel culture gone too far? How do people interact with the idea of cancel culture on social media? What happens in   a fandom   when someone is cancelled or actively being cancelled? Do fans go too far? Has there been a time when   a fandom   has gone too far? Is there still room to enjoy what is created by a cancelled entertainer?  Cancel culture may be a good form of social justice in society but the ways in which it is used and abused online has   swayed   far from its actual purpose.   

The conveniences that the internet and social media has brought have certainly outnumbered the bad. Today   social media   can branch together family who   have not   seen each other in days, months, or years and now especially due to the pandemic. There is however a downside to platforms like this. These platforms undoubtedly can bring the worst out of people hopping on a   trend or hashtag. When someone makes even the slightest misstep people   act   online to let everyone know. This has brought about a new era to social media with rising concepts of cancel or call out culture. But what is cancel culture?   One explanation form “Disruptive rhetoric in an age of outrage” by Michael Welsh explains that cancel culture has become its own societal discourse of social   issues in   which people can take to social media and announce that someone is cancelled for a perceived crime by the accuser.   

With cancel culture social media has become reactionary instead of investigating whether these claims are true.   In “With (Stan) ding Cancel Culture: Stan Twitter and Reactionary Fandoms” Hailey   Roos   explains that   “cancel culture is intended to hold powerful people accountable, but it has been constantly appropriated, and its influence has been diminished because of how frequently people are cancelled for less serious offenses.”   What ways can someone be cancelled? There can be social media movements led by hashtags declaring   someone   is cancelled which can lead to extreme consequences   to   those, the people cancelling and those being cancelled. The action taken by those who are cancelled can be to take accountability in their actions and reflect on them and change or they can   defend and   deflect what is being accused of them to   keep   the status they have.   Joseph Ching Velasco in “You are Cancelled: Virtual Collective Consciousness and the Emergence of Cancel Culture as Ideological Purging” explains that there can be those who are accused of committing a crime they   did not   commit for the sake of someone else’s gain. In the same sense though cancel culture as an act in society is confusing as it can be used for its purpose or as a “power play” which leads to a need for more understanding on how to wield such a power. There   is not   a clear-cut way of knowing for certain if   in   the moment it is merely just a business move or if the person did something wrong.   

Today   the internet, more specifically social media platforms, have decided that there is a need for judge, jury, and executioner in the matter of social issues. Who   oversees   making such decisions and on what terms are used to judge?   From “Twitter, What’s The Verdict?” Aya Imam explains that it can be said that growing up we are taught through fairytales and fables that everything is good versus evil, where we take every situation and boil it down to that. In terms of defining every situation in terms of black and white that leaves little room   for the person to defend themselves.   If someone is   justifiably   cancelled what are these codes of conduct that they have broken?   Then it seems for that everyday people have taken matters into their own hands by essentially “cancelling” someone if they   don’t   follow societal rules (Imam 2).   

When it comes to hearing about cancel culture the first people to come to mind would be celebrities. Celebrities fill our newsfeed on the daily with videos, stories, etc. for the public’s entertainment. There has become a sense of connection with celebrities   and their audience, where they need to adhere to their publicized person or face the consequences (Roos   3-4). With this constant connection more issues   become known   or are dug up. In recent   years,   the celebrities   that people associate with cancel culture are   names like Harvey Weinstein and Billy Cosby, who both have a list of sexual assault allegations against them. Others like Kathy Griffin, who posted a photo of herself holding a “bloody” Trump mask, or Taylor Swift who will be discussed later in this essay.  

Aya Imam briefly discusses the disparities in cancel culture:  

Does Harvey Weinstein deserve the backlash he’s received? Yes, 1000% yes. But does James Charles – a very famous YouTuber who was initially called out by another YouTuber for endorsing the ‘wrong’ vitamin brand – deserve the false accusations of being a sexual predator (which, in turn, resulted in millions of people unfollowing and unsubscribing from him)? No, I don’t believe he deserves that (Imam 2).  

I would like to note that as I was doing my research, I picked this article and this quote because it did display the gap between how serious or not Weinstein’s or Charles’s situations were but at the current time it has   become known   that James Charles has multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (texting/messaging primarily) with minors. With the James Charles cancellation he   was friends with another YouTuber, Tati   Westbrook,   and owner of a vitamin supplement company, who recorded a video   accusing of   Charles of behaving inappropriately with straight men. The video and its message were then condensed down to it being about Charles endorsing a rival vitamin company.   In   “How Can We End #CancelCulture – Tort Liability or Thumper’s Rule?”   Nanci   Carr   explains how a situation much like James Charles’s can show that   when a celebrity is cancelled it is more off a hunch than actual   information.   So, then what   decides   why, how, or what extent someone is cancelled? There is no real set of rules on cancelling someone.   Carr   explains that   “we are living in a ‘cancel culture’ where if someone, often a celebrity, does something either illegal or unethical, society is quick to ‘cancel’ them, or lessen their celebrity standing or cultural capital   (133).” For Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein, yes, they face consequences for their actions but when it comes to Taylor Swift was the punishment fitting of the crime?  

As I had said previously mentioned Taylor Swift for   a moment   had been cancelled. Most if not all articles on the topic of cancel culture touched on what happened to Taylor Swift. Truly, I   do not   think anyone would consider her to be cancelled because she faced no major backlash financially but what   the situation   did damage was her reputation, which would become the topic of her 6 th   album.   Swift’s story goes all the way back to 2009 when Swift won an award and Kanye West stormed the stage to let her and everyone know that Beyonce had the best video of the year. Swift and West had different paths from this event with Swift being pegged as a victim and West as the villain, which led to if other situations arose that Swift was playing the victim because that first moment garnered her so much sympathy and people saying that it helped her career back then. Fast forward to 2016 after West and Swift had mended fences as Swift puts it in “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” and West had called to ask if he could reference Swift in a song. The song in question was “famous” would later be released for everyone to hear the line, “I   feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, why, I made that bitch famous.” Swift claimed she had only heard   the first part of the lyric and was never made aware of the part where West would call her a bitch or that he made her famous. This led to bitterness on social media between Kanye West, his wife Kim Kardashian, and   the   Kardashian’s friends and family.   

The following quote by Swift was at the 2016 Grammy Awards after winning album of the year and many believe it is in reference to the situation:  

As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there, there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame, but, if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you’re going you’ll look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there. And that will be the greatest feeling in the world. Thank you for this moment. (Griffiths)  

Taylor Swift in this moment wanted to show that she got to where she was on her own and for   the   Kardashian this moment would lead to her releasing clips of the recorded conversation. While the phone conversation was recorded what we saw in 2016 was an edited version posted on Snapchat by Kim Kardashian, years later the full conversation would be released online to reveal more truth to Swift’s side of the story. The below picture is a tweet that Kardashian tweeted before the release of Kardashian’s video, she posted on Twitter “Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!” with a slew of snake emojis. As shown in the picture it was liked   over 300 thousand times and shared over 200 thousand times.   

You can see the Tweet here 

Kardashian’s tweet   doesn’t   seem   too   malicious at face value. The tweet   doesn’t   mention anyone by name,   doesn’t   mention the need to cancel anyone, nor does it attack   anyone. Kardashian’s plan was methodical, by simultaneously posting this tweet and posting the edited video it jumpstarted others to take the idea that Taylor Swift was a snake   and not to be trusted. There was an onslaught of attacks on Swift and her character. The hashtag #TaylorSwiftisoverparty was a worldwide trend.   In the article “From Cancel Culture to Changing Culture” Liz Theriault explained that   “[Swift] was being sent ‘mass amounts of messages’ telling her to ‘either shut up, disappear, or [as] it could also be perceived as, kill yourself.’” The extent of tweets towards Swift ranged from benign to telling her to kill herself or for her to be killed. In terms of cancellation, yes Taylor Swift was indeed cancelled but online forums made her the target of worse hate. Cancel culture should not be to take the opportunity to break down someone even more than needed, in this situation it   should have   been to take accountability of your actions however benign they may have been. For cancel culture this is one of many examples of how we make quick calls about someone’s character due to social media outlets (Imam 3). In the below tweet the user says, “I love this #taylorswiftisoverparty…. been at this party since 1989…. most annoying and ridiculous singer in the   biz…. ok! Kill her!” This shows the extreme hate that was directed at Swift during the cancellation.   With respect to the following person, I have blacked out their image and username.  

After seeing such malice towards a celebrity for a crime   committed   how can being cancelled affect them? As with Swift she disappeared for a year, no trace of her in public or on social media where she was an avid user prior to this scandal because   that is   what she thought people wanted. Even with years prior of being primarily silent on political issues, she knew the optics of getting involved in the 2016 presidential election.  

Taylor Swift in the following explains why she felt adding her opinion in such a polarizing election year would have added fuel to the fire:  

The summer before that election, all people were saying was ‘She’s calculated. She’s manipulative. She’s not what she seems. She’s a snake. She’s a liar.’ These are the same exact insults people were hurling at Hillary. ‘Would I be an endorsement, or would I be a liability? Literally millions of people were telling me to disappear. So, I disappeared. In many senses (BBC News).  

With the rise of social media platforms there has become a sense of connection with celebrity and their audience, where they need to adhere to their publicized persona or face the consequences (Roos   3-4). As with the case of a cancelled celebrity what happens to their respective fandom? I can say that I do have a bias in this situation because I am a Taylor Swift fan, while I am still on the fence of the idea of being called a “Swiftie,”   a hardcore stan, I can say seeing this used against a celebrity that I liked can also put a form of shame on a fan. Should I   still like her? If I still like her what will people think of me? Did she really lie about the situation? If she lied, then is it true she just plays the victim any time she gets called out? All valid questions I had for myself which now looking back on were a little over the top, if she had done what she was accused of it really   was not   that bad of a crime. During that time when it came to Taylor Swift most of my friends just labelled her as annoying, not a good singer, and that she deserved it. After watching several other celebrities or content creators being cancelled or held accountable, I can say that sometimes it is hard to say that I am a fan without there being some amount of judgment.   

We   have really seen cancel culture only affect those who have fame and money but cancel culture is not a solo phenomenon to affect only celebrities, it also affects everyday people like me and you. With call out culture it is   seen   with bringing awareness to social issues.   Unfortunately,   you will see more videos of people acting out on racist ideas. The purpose of call out culture is in its name; you call out that behavior.   In the essay “Cancel Culture: Posthuman   Hauntologies   in Digital Rhetoric and the Latent Values of Virtual Community Networks” Austin Hooks discusses the possibility there is   with   cancel culture,   social media, and how it   can   drudge   up the past holding people accountable to their past actions, which can be referred to as a “haunting” or doxing and is the basis of this culture. While most people think   it is   fun to revisit posts from their pasts on apps like   Timehop   and Facebook, others suffer this as an unfortunate consequence as their past self comes back to haunt them.   

For an example of a haunting I would like you to meet Carson King. King was a regular college student who   needed   beer money and made a sign that said to Venmo him Busch Light Beer money, this led to many donating a large amount of money to the beer cause which he in turn donated to charities and would later team up with the same beer company to donate upwards of one million dollars to a charity of his choice (Carr   135-136). The story at the time was a feel-good moment where you could see a kind college kid doing something for laughs would end up turning his life upside down. King was eventually cancelled for two old racists tweets that were dug up by a reporter, Aaron Calvin, while writing a feel-good piece on the donations (Carr   136). Was it necessary for Calvin to report this while   writing   an article on a large donation? No, it really   was not   necessary but Calvin “felt obligated to publicize the existence, confirming once again, no good deed goes unpunished (Carr   137).” The story on his tweets turned into companies backing out   of partnerships with   King   and   getting negative attention online. King apologized for his past remarks but also felt that they   did not   represent   who he was as person at the time. After King’s apology,   he was still receiving criticism for his past remarks, many online had thought it was unnecessary for Calvin to go through King’s social media the story was on how King was able to get money to donate to charity and not for King’s past. The public then   acted   and as with Calvin, they felt obligated to   investigate   Calvin’s old tweets and found some highly questionable tweets (Carr   138). For King, it was unnecessary to do   a deep dive into his past actions online so was it necessary to do the same to Calvin?   “[Calvin] acknowledged that [the tweets] were ‘frankly embarrassing’ but then asserted that they had been ‘taken out of context’ to ‘wield   disingenuous   arguments against [him]’ (Carr   138)” Calvin had lost his job and suffered similar consequences for the same judgment he had placed on   King.   

On the other hand, with the case of Bill Cosby some repercussions with “the way the public villainized Cosby’s family, and even the fans of the show, mirrors the ways that incarcerated citizens are being reduced to their ‘guilty’ label and vilified, as described by Jamison (Imam 3).” When a celebrity is cancelled it goes so far to say that if you partake in their media, you are also just as bad. As I have said   there   was a mild villainization on being a part of a fandom where their celebrity is being cancelled but of nothing criminal. In the case of Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, among others who have a list of sexual assault allegations against them, can you still enjoy their art?   Yes, you can still enjoy their art but also remember what they did. You   do not   have to take accountability for their actions but also   do not   vilify   their victims.   

We have looked at cancel culture in terms of celebrity, regular people, and the reaction to their said cancellation. Briefly mentioned is cancel culture in terms of fans but what contribution do fans have on social media especially   on   cancel culture? “Fandoms often serve as a buffer to being cancelled on Twitter (Roos   4).” Many fans especially the hardcore fans, also known as stans or depending on who it is for have a special name like   Swifties, can help soften the blow that the celebrity is experiencing. For   Taylor Swift,   her fans were online trying to defend her but would mostly go on to send a brief tweet to show their support or love. Recently   this has become more of a popular thing for her fans during a time where she was battling for the rights to the   masters   to her first six albums.   In the article “Taylor Swift needs to call off her fans as they send Scooter Braun death threats”   Mel   Evans discusses how   in 2019 it was announced that the record label that owned Swift’s   masters   was being   sold to   Scooter Braun.  

In the following quote from a   Tumblr   post of Swift’s she explains everything surrounding the battle to owning her   masters:  

For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead, I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and “earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. … I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. (Taylor Swift)  

Swift also said “Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work.”  This message would lead her fans known as  Swifties  to go on the attack.

Swifties  would go on Scooter Braun’s social media and either just tell him to give her the  masters  back or actively threaten him, his family, and company. Braun would ask Swift to talk about this privately instead of broadcasting it to her many fans (Evans). This  was not  the only example of  Swifties  going past the message she was trying to send to her fans. More recently a tv show on Netflix titled “Ginny  & Georgia” and one of its lead  actors  was on the receiving end of this. You can see the Tweet here. 

The following is a quote from the image above of a tweet from Taylor Swift:  

Hey Ginny & Georgia, 2010 called and wants it lazy, deeply sexist joke back. How about we stop degrading hard   working women   by defining this horse shit as   Funny. Also, @netflix after Miss Americana this outfit   doesn’t   look cute on you Happy Women’s History Month I guess (Taylor Swift).  

The image that Swift had post was of the line from the show which says, “What do you care? You go through men faster than Taylor Swift.” Swift had been the punchline of this joke for many years having called it out in the past and even writing songs about how the media portrays   her like “Blank Space” and “Look What You Made Me Do.”   Swifties   took this tweet as a call to action to attack the show, but not the writers of the joke, the   actor   who spoke the line. A lot of responses were   like   “Respect Taylor Swift” or “Apologize to Taylor” but then there were quite a few racist replies which many wanted Taylor Swift herself to apologize for.   Swifties   as a culture I   would not   say they are racist, but when people start swinging for their favorite they tend to punch down and unfortunately aim to hurt. The   actor   was not the target of Swift’s disdain, it was the show writers and Netflix but because she used the online platform to air her grievance her fans wanted to take their turn at cancelling someone. Unfortunately for Swift, her fans will   continue   this path of destruction for the sake of preserving her legacy.   Fans have the power to build up   and   tear down.   

I have talked about different variations of cancelling, the reactions the public and fandoms have made,   and   the   vague rules that are broken but what are these rules to online social platforms?   Who makes these rules? If you break these   rules,   are you thereby cancelled?   Throughout all social media online we have a collected idea of   what is   right and wrong and that is referred to as “collective consciousness” (Velasco 2).   As a society, we have applied some baseline rules to ourselves of what is acceptable and what is not. When people break these   rules,   they have committed a high crime   where people see no difference between people convicted of crimes and people who are cancelled (Imam 3).   When there is no difference between those incarcerated and those cancelled   the   rules need to be revisited and revised much like the justice system altogether.   With this cancel culture can be beneficial in society after it is closely reexamined   so it is not used as a power gain or to tear down someone for simply not agreeing to something. People should be held accountable for serious indiscretions   like derogatory remarks, violence, and sexual assault. Cancel culture should not be used as a witch hunt for the rich and famous to root out people who are their rivals. With the current political climate and with current news media we need to stop labeling everything as being cancelled when it truly is not. Mr. Potato Head is not being cancelled for the company declaring it is genderless,   it is   a potato of course it has no gender. Dr. Seuss made highly racist books that the estate wants to withdraw from the public because of their content, not because they are being cancelled. Instead of cancel culture it needs a stiff remarketing as accountability   culture.   As   a society we need to cancel “cancel culture” and instead help people become accountable of their actions.   

@kimkardashian. “Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!” Twitter, 16 July 2016 7:22 P.M. https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/754818471465287680

BBC News. “Taylor Swift: ‘Saying You’re Cancelled Is like Saying Kill Yourself.’” BBC News, 9 Aug. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-49289430.

Carr, Nanci K. “How Can We End# CancelCulture-Tort Liability or Thumper’s Rule?.” Cath. UJL & Tech 28 (2019): 133.

Evans, M. (2019, November 26). Taylor Swift needs to call off her fans as they SEND Scooter Braun death threats. Retrieved March 16, 2021, from https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/25/taylor-swift-attack-scooter-braun-danger-toxic-fandom-11215672/

Griffiths, K. (2016, February 16). Transcript of Taylor SWIFT’S 2016 Grammys speech that was a HUGE Feminist Victory. Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.bustle.com/articles/142222-transcript-of-taylor-swifts-2016-grammys-speech-that-was-a-huge-feminist-victory

Hooks, Austin. “Cancel culture: posthuman hauntologies in digital rhetoric and the latent values of virtual community networks.” (2020).

Imam, Aya. “Twitter, What’s The Verdict?”

Laconte, Stephen. “Taylor Swift Fans Are Attacking A Star Of ‘Ginny & Georgia’ After That ‘Deeply Sexist’ Joke — But She Had An Important Response.” BuzzFeed, 5 Mar. 2021, www.buzzfeed.com/stephenlaconte/taylor-swift-ginny-georgia-sexist-joke-antonia-gentry.

Lambert, Anthony, and Sarah Maguire. “Has cancel culture gone too far?” (2020).

Roos, Hailey. “With (Stan) ding Cancel Culture: Stan Twitter and Reactionary Fandoms.”  (2020).

Theriault, Liz. “From cancel culture to changing culture.” (2019).

Velasco, Joseph Ching. “You are Cancelled: Virtual Collective Consciousness and the Emergence of Cancel Culture as Ideological Purging.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 12.5 (2020).

Welsh, Michael Tyler. Disruptive rhetoric in an age of outrage. Diss. 2020.

West, Kanye. “Famous.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq2TmRzg19k

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Melanie Wroblewski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, covid-19 act test cancellations and what to do next.

ACT Logistics

As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, the ACT has cancelled numerous test dates in 2020, including the March, April, and May (and some June) ACT exams. They've also closed some testing centers for the July 18th test date, so not all students will be able to take their scheduled exams at that time, either.

If you're impacted by this ACT test date cancellation, you're probably wondering what's next. Our experts are answering all of your frequently asked questions below.

Which ACT Test Dates Canceled for Coronavirus?

Yes. The ACT cancelled the March, April, and May test dates.

For test takers who plan to take the ACT in June or July, there will only be certain testing locations available. You can find a complete list of testing location closures here. If you're affected by a test location closure, you can try to move your testing location, or you can reschedule your exam for a later date.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic is an evolving situation. Be sure to regularly check the ACT website to see if any other test dates become affected.

What About Testing Center Closures for the June and July Exams?

Has the ACT Rescheduled the Canceled Test Date?

Luckily, the canceled test date has been moved to June 13, 2020 .

If you were registered to take the ACT in April, you'll be receiving an email in the next few days with instructions about how to complete the rescheduling of your exam.

The ACT will send this email to the address it has on file , so be sure to check that email account for information regularly. If you haven't already, make sure you've added the ACT's registration email address to your contact list so important emails aren't caught by your spam filter.

What If You Can't Take the Test on June 13?

According to the ACT website , you'll have the option to take the ACT on the rescheduling date, or you'll be able to reschedule the exam for a later test date that works for you.

In other words, you'll be able to reschedule for dates other than June 13, too.

So far, the ACT hasn't released specific information about whether you'll be limited to rescheduling for a 2020 testing date, or if you'll have a slightly longer rescheduling window. Since this is an evolving situation, be sure to continue to check the ACT website for more specific details.

Are There Additional Costs Associated With the 2020 ACT Test Cancellation?

While the ACT normally charges students to reschedule their testing dates, all students affected by the April test date cancellation will be able to reschedule their exams for free.

What If You Don't Want to (or Can't) Reschedule?

If you can't reschedule your test date, or if you don't want to reschedule your test at this time, you may be eligible for a refund of your test registration fees.

You should receive more information about this option in the ACT's forthcoming email.

If you're a senior, this test cancelation can feel pretty scary. While the ACT hasn't announced official plans for students in your position, they're working on it!

What If I'm a Senior in High School Applying for College?

If you're a senior and haven't yet taken either the ACT or SAT, you may be in a tight spot...especially with upcoming college admissions deadlines.

While the ACT doesn't yet have a plan in place for affected seniors, they're aware of the situation. They'll be releasing more information in the coming days on the ACT website .

Does This Apply to International Students?

As of now, the April test cancellation applies to US test takers only. However, according to the official ACT Twitter account , the ACT is evaluating the testing situation on a country-by-country basis.

Make sure to follow the ACT on social media and check their special COVID update page regularly for international testing information.

Next Steps for Affected Students

If you're affected by the April 4, 2020 ACT Test cancellation, there are are few action steps you can take now.

Wait for the ACT Email

The ACT is emailing all affected students with more information in the coming days. This email will contain information about the cancellation, as well as information about how to reschedule your test date or secure your test fee refund (if you can't reschedule).

Like we mentioned earlier, the ACT will send this note to the email address they have on record. Check your email account regularly so that you don't miss out on this important information. Also don't forget to check your spam filter in case the email gets caught there!

Look at the Testing Date Calendar

While you're waiting for the ACT email, go ahead and take a look at the ACT testing date calendar.

Hopefully the June 13, 2020 test date works for you, but looking at future testing dates will help you start planning ahead.

Check the ACT's Website Often

Since the COVID-19 epidemic is an ongoing situation , the ACT will be releasing new and updated information on its website. Make sure you're checking the ACT's COVID-19 page regularly to stay up on all the information you need.

This is especially important if you're an international test-taker or a high school senior that's applying for colleges. That's because the ACT hasn't yet released specific information for these two groups of test-takers.

We also recommend that you follow the ACT on social media. Any new and/or breaking news will show up there as well as on the ACT website. Here are the links to their relevant social media accounts:

• ACT Twitter
• ACT Instagram
• ACT Facebook

What's Next?

• Be sure to check out our list of ACT Test dates. Our article compiles future test dates through 2021. This list will help you as you try to pick a new testing date that works for you.
• Just because your ACT test is canceled doesn't mean you can put off studying! While some of your in-person study groups may be canceled due to coronavirus, you can still use ACT guide books to prep for your exam.
• You may have already taken the ACT before, and you were hoping to retake it to get a better score. Depending on your college plans, you may not have to ! Check out this article that will help you learn more about what constitutes a "good" ACT score. It can even help you determine if you really need to take the ACT again.

Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points?

Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more.

Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score.

Check out our 5-day free trial:

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Guest Essay

I Hope to Repeal an Arcane Law That Could Be Misused to Ban Abortion Nationwide

By Tina Smith

Ms. Smith is a Democratic senator from Minnesota and a former Planned Parenthood executive.

A long discredited, arcane 150-year-old law is back in the news in 2024, and that should terrify anyone who supports reproductive freedom. Last week at the Supreme Court, the Comstock Act of 1873 was referenced on three separate occasions during oral arguments in a case dealing with access to mifepristone, one of two drugs typically used in medication abortions.

Anti-abortion activists like to bring up the Comstock Act because one of its clauses prohibits sending through the mail “every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing” that could possibly lead to an abortion. Even if the Supreme Court doesn’t take the bait, a newly re-elected President Trump could order his Department of Justice to start interpreting that line to mean that it is illegal to mail mifepristone — a safe, effective, Food and Drug Administration-approved drug — to doctors and pharmacies, as well as to patients directly. The same could go for medical supplies that are used in performing surgical abortions. That could effectively make abortion impossible to access even in places like Minnesota, which has affirmatively protected a woman’s right to choose by passing reproductive freedom laws.

In response, I’m prepared to fight back — including by introducing legislation to take away the Comstock Act as a tool to limit reproductive freedom.

Let me take a step back and explain how ridiculous it is that we’re even talking about this legislative relic today. The Comstock Act hasn’t been broadly enforced since the 1930s. The Biden administration considers it utterly irrelevant. Many legal experts consider it dead letter law. And once you know its back story, it becomes clear why no one has paid much attention to it in nearly a century.

Back in the 1860s, a former Civil War soldier from rural Connecticut named Anthony Comstock moved to New York City for work. He was shocked and appalled by what he found. Advertisements for contraception! Open discussions of sexual health! It all struck Comstock as terribly lewd and anti-Christian.

So he made it his mission to clean up society, creating the loftily named New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and gathering evidence for police raids on places that distributed material he thought was obscene or promoted indecent living. In the early 1870s he took his crusade to Washington, lobbying for federal legislation that would empower the post office to search for and seize anything in the mail that met Comstock’s criteria for being “obscene,” “lewd” or just plain “filthy.” Morality, as determined by Comstock, would be the law of the land, and Comstock himself would be its enforcer, appointed by Congress as a special agent of the post office.

In a fit of Victorian puritanism, Congress passed the Comstock Act into law. But it quickly became apparent that Comstock’s criteria were unworkably vague. In its broad wording, the law not only made it illegal to send pornography through the mail, it also outlawed the sending of medical textbooks for their depictions of the human body, personal love letters that hinted at physical as well as romantic relationships, and even news stories.

The whole thing was very silly and impracticable, and that’s why the Comstock Act was relegated to the dustbin of history.

But conservative activists recently revived it from obscurity as part of their playbook for a potential second Trump term: The 887-page plan nicknamed Project 2025 being promoted by groups like the Heritage Foundation explicitly calls for a newly elected second-term President Trump to use this zombie law to severely ratchet back abortion access in America without congressional action.

Legislation to repeal Comstock could take many forms, and we need to do it the right way. That’s why I’ve begun reaching out to my colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate to build support and see what legislation to repeal the Comstock Act might look like. Anti-abortion extremists will continue to exploit any avenue they can find to get the national ban they champion, and I want to make sure my bill shuts down every one of those avenues. Once the Supreme Court has had its say (and many legal analysts speculate that the mifepristone case heard last week should be thrown out on procedural grounds, and may well be), I’ll be ready to have mine.

Here’s the bottom line: We can’t let anyone — not the Supreme Court, not Donald Trump and certainly not a random busybody from the 19th century — take away Americans’ right to access medication abortion. We must protect the ability of doctors, pharmacies and patients to receive in the mail the supplies they need to exercise their right to reproductive care.

As the only former Planned Parenthood executive serving in the Senate, I feel I have a special responsibility to protect not just abortion rights but also abortion access.

Very few Republicans will admit to wanting to see a total, no-exceptions ban on abortion in all 50 states, but the Comstock Act could allow them to achieve that in effect, if not in so many words.

Americans deserve better. The Constitution demands better. And common sense dictates that we stop this outrageous backdoor ploy to eliminate abortion access in its tracks.

Tina Smith is a Democratic senator from Minnesota and a former Planned Parenthood executive.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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