High school students in the Portland region claim that in order to take the standardized test for college admissions, they have had to fight for limited spaces at SAT testing locations, even traveling to other states.
Many colleges and universities suspended requiring applicants to include their SAT or ACT scores on their application in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.
However, more and more colleges and universities are currently reintroducing the requirement.
With the exception of Washington and California, the SAT test capacity has returned to pre-pandemic levels nationwide, according to the College Board, which administers the exam.
According to the organization, test center availability is higher here than it was in 2021, so theoretically, Oregon students shouldn’t have any trouble securing a seat.
However, some pupils claim to have encountered a completely different reality.
According to students in the Portland region, seats are occupied by the time many people reach the sign-up website, particularly during busy periods of the year.
Drishti Singh, a junior at Lakeridge High School, stated that in order to guarantee a position on the SAT on August 24, she had to change the parameters on the College Board’s website, which administers the test, to be within 100 miles of her ZIP code.
Singh took the test at the border between Oregon and Idaho in Vale, Oregon. After taking a plane to Boise, she and her mother traveled an hour back into Oregon to Vale.
Singh explained, “I went there because it was the only testing facility available in Oregon for the August SAT.” Since they were all unable to locate testing facilities close to them, it appears that many of the children there had traveled hours by car from various locations throughout Oregon.
According to Singh, when she joined up in early June, there were no other spaces available in northern California or Washington. The College Board did not have August SAT sign-ups available when she checked earlier.
Because it falls either before or just before the start of the school year, some Oregon students claim that the August SAT is their ideal testing date. Instead of worrying about other assignments, students may focus on studying for the test.
Without having to worry about other responsibilities, I was able to concentrate on getting ready for the SAT, Singh added.
However, the College Board claims that its data indicates that December and May are the most popular times to take the test.
One of the final exam dates available to high school graduates prior to the November early action or decision college deadlines is the August SAT. Before applying, many seniors view it as one of their final opportunities to raise their score.
As a senior at Lake Oswego High, Roy Kim, a freshman at Seattle University, said that he had a hard time getting a seat for the August SAT last year. After failing to locate a testing location in Oregon, Kim took the SAT in Camas, Washington, which is 27 miles from his house.
A buddy of mine flew to Houston, Texas, to take it because there was so little room, Kim recalled. Additionally, his friend was a student at Lake Oswego High School.
Students may find that taking the SAT requires travel, which can be expensive and time-consuming and raise concerns about equity. Portland Public Schools parent Mary Shipley sent her kid to Boise to take the August SAT this year. She claimed that after spending over $1,000 to transport him and his sister there, they were unable to attend a family get-together.
Shipley stated, “I feel lucky that we were able to have my son take the test, but I think it’s unfair that others definitely couldn’t afford that.” [Colleges] claim that this part of their application process levels the playing field or acts as an equalizer, but how can that be true if taking the test requires this much effort?
After the pandemic ended, most colleges and institutions no longer required students to take the SAT or ACT, and about 2,000 now offer the test as an elective. Due to the decline in demand, some school districts made the decision to reduce the number of testing locations.
Because of the test-optional policy, the Tigard-Tualatin School District no longer provides as many testing chances as it once did.
We have made the decision to stop testing all students and instead offer the ACT to interested students over a few weekends in the spring, as the majority of colleges and universities are now test optional or test blind for admissions, said Alexander Pulaski, Tigard-Tualatin’s interim director of communications and community relations.
For the 2025 and 2026 entrance cycles, a small but increasing number of prestigious colleges and universities are returning to demanding test results. Representatives from those institutions, which include public universities like the University of Idaho and highly selective ones like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, claim that widespread grade inflation has made it more difficult for them to evaluate students. They claim that the results of standardized tests can serve as an impartial standard.
Some high school pupils are scrambling as a result. According to Melissa Pendergrass, administrator of the Hillsboro School District’s career and college paths, the biggest impact happens when seniors discover in the fall that they require SAT scores for particular college or scholarship applications.
For each test date, Hillsboro provides one to two testing locations. Every year, there are typically six testing dates.
“This can become a barrier to their acceptance into college or receiving scholarships if the demand for test seats exceeds the available capacity within a reasonable distance,” Pendergrass said.
Typically, the SAT is administered on Saturday mornings. However, Lakeridge High School chose to hold school-wide testing for all interested students on October 2, a weekday, due to the increased demand for testing. To allow students to take the test, the school halted instruction.
Taking the SAT in October was the final opportunity for many seniors to take the test before to submitting their applications to colleges that had an early action or decision deadline. According to Lois Moll, testing coordinator at Lakeridge, the school chose to schedule the test day for early October so that students may receive their results in time for application deadlines.
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Before completing her college applications, Lakeridge senior Kellene Robinson decided to retake the SAT. She had first registered to take the test at Canby, which is around 30 minutes away from her house, on October 5.
“I really had no other choice,” Robinson remarked.
She was barely in time for the school-wide assessment day. Instead, Robinson was allowed to take the exam at her own high school.
“It seems almost unfair that you have to try to sign up six months in advance just to be able to take a test when applying to colleges and just high school in general,” Robinson said. I was quite appreciative that we could just provide it [at Lakeridge] rather than requiring me to travel to Canby.
Juwon Kim, who graduated from the High School Journalism Institute, is a senior at Lakeridge High School. Next year, she intends to attend college to study journalism.
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