So Long Farewell....SAT Subject Tests and SAT Essay

Collegeboard’s recent announcement regarding shelving SAT Subject Test and Essay on the SAT test has generated a lot of concern. These tests have long served a niche role in admissions as a way for students to amass extra credentials to show their prowess for ultracompetitive schools. For many years, Ivy League schools and others, including Georgetown University, have recommended, encouraged or accepted subject test scores in addition to the required scores from the main SAT or ACT.

The essay on the SAT test for the longest time was hailed to test students’ writing prowess and held as an arbiter of the quality of their college essays. The importance of the SAT Essay first suffered major setback after the New SAT was introduced in 2016, when it was made optional. From there on, it was a quick and steep slide for the relevance and importance of SAT Essay for admissions purpose.

On other hand, the importance of SAT Subject Tests slide has been more gradual, but nonetheless noticeable. In the past couple of years the usage of SAT Subject Tests has really dwindled and this was even before COVID hit.

In the absence of the SAT Essay and Subject Test, it looks as though the relevance and acceptance of APs will gain ground. Collegeboard has already announced the return of longer AP test for 2021 as compared to the experimental 45min test that was introduced in 2020.

Here at Axios, we feel as if Collegeboard is finally catching up to what has been happening at the ground level. It seems like our recommendation to families to not “worry” about the SAT (and ACT) Essay and Subject Tests is finally gaining acknowledgement from the Collegeboard.

How about a similar announcement from the ACT? It is time to announce the demise of the ACT Essay as well.