Testing inequality

Like many undergraduates, I plan on going to law school at some point after college. While I won’t be taking the LSAT until next fall, I’ve already signed up for a Kaplan test prep info session. If you have ever signed up for a Kaplan course before, you know what’s coming—total email bombardment.

I have generally managed to ignore these incessant emails, but one in particular caught my eye. Kaplan offers an LSAT summer boot camp that boasts a summer of unrivaled, intensive test preparation. Participants spend six weeks in study groups and one-on-one tutoring sessions in preparation for test day. Guaranteeing students a higher score, the company also coaches its clients for applications with individualized law school advising. Kaplan offers the same intensive summer boot camp for the MCAT. This program may sound absolutely crazy to some, like the ideal method of preparation to others. Certainly, all those who are able to participate are going to have a definite advantage when taking the test. Great, sign me up! Oh, the program costs $8,000? Plus an extra $3,500 for housing and meals?

This is economic inequality at its ugliest. Consider the following example: What happens when two students of comparable intelligence and motivation, but of different economic backgrounds, both apply to medical school? One student can afford to participate in Kaplan’s intensive six-week program full-time. The other can only afford to purchase a test prep book and must serve as his or her own tutor in addition to working a full-time job. Given all of these advantages, the student with greater resources will do better on the test and potentially get into medical school over the other student. Admissions committees have no way of knowing whether an applicant’s score was the result of six weeks of intensive test prep boot camp, or cramming in an hour of exhaustive self-led study during lunch and at the end of a long day of work every day for several months.

As graduate school admissions become increasingly competitive, students feel more and more pressure to spend as much time as possible studying for various standardized tests. As a close friend of mine, who plans to take the MCAT immediately after graduation, said, “It’s impossible for me to make studying my full-time job when I have to pay for rent, food, and all other living expenses.” Although she recognizes that studying full-time with no income is financially unrealistic, she feels serious pressure to compete with her peers who are able to pay for private tutors and take time off to devote to studying.

The test-taking industry is a for-profit, commercialized enterprise solely concerned with making outrageous sums of money at the expense of test takers. As my friends prepare for the MCAT/LSAT/GMAT, the blatant unfairness of the test-taking system becomes increasingly evident. If you can afford to spend thousands of dollars, resources are available to you that can help to increase your score and get you into the school of your choice. If you can’t afford an intensive test preparation “boot camp,” or even a course or private tutor, you are at a severe disadvantage. You then must beat the odds in order to compete.

Tests aren’t the only aspect of graduate school admissions processes that is unjust. Straight A’s and good test scores—the clear academic qualifiers—are no longer enough. Nowadays, to get in, one must rack up a list of experiences and accomplishments that constitute a well rounded and qualified applicant. Unpaid internships and time spent abroad volunteering can be wonderful, but you have to be able to afford to work without an income, purchase plane tickets, or pay fees often required to participate in a volunteer program. People of modest means and limited resources are left in the dust.

This system is widening the already gaping divide between the haves and have-nots. If the majority of future doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople is from privileged backgrounds, the scope of thoughts and experiences will be as narrow and limited as the population from which these professionals are drawn. What does that say about upward mobility in modern America? The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor, and the American dream of rising to the top through hard work fades away.

Alexandra Katz is a Barnard College senior majoring in political science. Umm, Excuse me runs alternate Tuesdays.