Standardized tests aren’t the problem. Here's what is really holding students back

After making standardized tests optional for admissions during the pandemic, elite universities like Dartmouth, MIT, Yale and, most recently, Brown have recognized their error and reimposed a testing requirement for all applicants.

Originally, these schools caved to critics who derided the SAT and ACT as discriminatory, inequitable and even racist. The critics were always wrong to blame demographic differences in test scores on racial animus, but they were right about something: 

The SAT and ACT do put students at a disadvantage – all students.

Debates about testing often focus on how different socioeconomic or racial groups compare within the system, questioning why wealthier students get better SAT scores than poorer or if the ACT favors Whites and Asians over Blacks and Hispanics.