Exams and Chaos

Did I seriously just hear about colleges beginning to not look at the SATs anymore?! You mean to tell me the main reason why I couldn't get into an IV league school is now slowly beginning to go away as if it was never placed there as a requirement to begin with?? I am stunned! I am overly stunned. I remember being in high school and taking one of those Kaplan courses just so I could do better on the SATs because I thought the SAT was a clear cut example of college. But in reality, it isn't. If you ask the maker of the SAT why he made it, he will tell you he made it so individuals could be tested on the SAT, not on whether they would do good in school or not... That is completely insane to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love the college I attend. I wouldn't change school for anything. This school has definitely prepared me for life indeed (I sound like an advertisement). I just don't understand the purpose of exams in general. An exam, in reality, is a test to see how much you can hold in your brain for a short amount of time. It doesn't necessarily make you learn anything, it is just placed there to have a reason for taking a class I swear. From working at different companies and talking to people, they all tell me how if they forget something, they simply open a book and look for it. They don't test there self and and see how much they know at a random time in the year. If anything, exams should be taken out of all curriculum, and be replaced with research studies. Yes that's right research studies.

Think about it. When you do a research study, you have to gather information on a certain topic. Not only do you have to use calculations and determine things on the side, you are legitimately teaching yourself something you wouldn't normally learn or want to learn about. I remember I did a research study on how to supply a village in Africa (Cameroon to be more exact) with clean hot water by using solar power since there is not a good source of electric power in the area. I swear if you asked me any question from that study, I can tell you exactly how we came to it. Unfortunately, we were not able to gather enough funds to implement the design we made. I feel like if a person can relate to what they are doing more, it stays in their mind longer.

Moral bar: Out with tests....In with research!!!!