Looking beyond the SAT and ACT

In just a couple of weeks, thousands of high school juniors around Florida and the rest of the nation will rouse themselves out of bed before 7 a.m. one last time before the school year officially ends. They have to arrive at the only summer administration of the SAT no later than 7:45 a.m. on that Saturday, or risk missing the chance to improve (or log in) the score they hope will help them gain admission to the college of their choice.

Some colleges and universities are saying there must be a better way to determine who qualifies for admission than this. So they're slowly making the standardized entrance exam optional, not required. Smith College in Massachusetts and Wake Forest University in North Carolina are the latest two to follow the trend, the NY Times reports.

The goal, officials say, is to broaden the diversity of the applicant pool and to consider more important things than the Saturday morning test scores of a bleary-eyed teen. More important things to look at when evaluating a student's potential would be chosen curriculum, classroom performance and outside activities - you know, things that actually matter more than just the day when admission decisions are made.

So juniors (and your parents), if you're considering Smith or Wake Forest, think about sleeping late on June 7. You won't need the SAT scores to win entrance there. But just remember this: Once you wake up, what you do the rest of the day will matter even more.

(Photo of students taking SAT from Tutors of Oxford website)