Maryam Wasef Week 3

Summary

This topic was about about Dartmouth College and their decision to reinstate the requirement of submitting SAT scores for college admissions, and this fact is shared across all three articles. The articles also acknowledge that this decision could be seen as a move towards fairness and meritocracy by supporters of standardized testing. And lastly, the articles all mention that opponents argue that standardized testing perpetuates inequality and disadvantages certain groups of students. The Forbes article includes additional facts about Dartmouth's decision, such as the percentage of applicants who submitted SAT scores during the test-optional period and how many applicants were admitted without submitting scores.
It's possible that Forbes included more specific facts because they focus on business and finance, while the other sources may have different editorial priorities. However, it's also worth considering that political biases could've influenced the selection and presentation of facts in this case, I just didn't quite see much of that in the Forbes article, which makes sense in light of the fact that AllSides' designation of Forbes is that it is the Centrist article.
In terms of language and word choice, each article presents its arguments with varying degrees of objectivity. The New York Post article obviously, in a way unlike the other two articles, seems to favor Dartmouth's decision, as evidenced by the headline containing the phrase, "Dartmouth is right" and the article's emphasis on the benefits of standardized testing for fair college admissions. The CNN article, on the other hand, takes a more critical stance, using phrases like "wealthy and white students" to highlight the perceived inequities of standardized testing. When I took my SAT, I had studied primarily using Khan Academy and without a tutor and I did fairly well. But I can certainly see and agree with the point that specifically wealthy families, minus the unnecessary polarizing racial element, do have an advantage by being able to hire tutors for their children. Do I think, however, that tutors are absolutely necessary to get a good enough SAT score to go to a decent enough college that will give you a more than reasonable opportunity to develop your intellect and skills? Definitely not. The CUNY and SUNY system is filled with students like me, who didn't have tutors, who studied hard, and now they are in these fine institutions with more than capable faculty that are teaching us to develop the necessary skills for our respective fields.