Just when you think you will never have to see the letters SAT again in your life, the infamous college placement exam is making headlines as the platform is being adjusted to better suit modern college admission standards.

With the changes being made, the debate has reignited surrounding the ever-growing significance of the exam.

Rather than relying so heavily on standardized exams such as the SAT and ACT, college admissions personnel must develop a more holistic way of assessing potential students who are applying to their university.

What is so different about the new test? According to an article published by CNN on Feb. 25, smaller changes include: removing the vocabulary section, disallowing calculators, making the essay portion optional and assessing no penalty for guessing.

The biggest change coming to the test, according to the article, is that it will be more text-based than the previous version. This means less illustrations and graphs in certain sections and instead more worded explanations.

For many individuals, this change is not projected to make a huge difference in their ability to take the exam or their resulting score. However, it raises concerns for the ever-growing number of students who are taking the test and speak English as their second language, or have a home language other than English.

This concern is being voiced especially as seemingly ever-increasing weight is being placed on standardized tests like the SAT.

According to WSU’s admissions website, “the Washington Student Achievement Council requires standardized test scores for freshman admission to all of the state’s public universities.”

WSU offers assured admission to those placing in the top 10 percent in their high school class or those who have a 3.5 or greater GPA, but for students who do not achieve these marks, SAT scores certainly come into play.

According to an article published by NPR on March 5, this new SAT was designed to “provide a more accurate measure of a student’s college and career readiness.” The ACT beat the SAT to this goal as they were the first to adapt to Common Core learning standards, the article adds.

What neither of these tests has realized is that a one-shot, timed, standardized test may not be the best measure of a student’s knowledge and to place a student’s college career on the line because of it is less than fair.

If colleges and universities are unhappy about their graduation and retention rates, or just the overall success of their students, they must begin the discussion with addressing admissions.

SAT and ACT tests are an expired way of testing knowledge. Especially when students coming from incredibly different backgrounds are all held to the same standard.

Dozens of factors can alter a student’s ability to perform on a standardized test, yet seldom are these factors taken into account by these massive, nationwide tests.

This issue is just a fraction of the broken system of college admissions. Colleges must work harder to assure all students are looked at from a holistic lens, this beginning with changing the emphasis placed on standardized tests.