There’s the common argument that students who get SHSAT offers have worked very hard, hence it’s unfair to replace the SHSAT exam.

But that argument ignores the fact that students who excel throughout the entire year at school to be in the top 7% of their entire school probably worked just as hard or even harder. And to be considered for the current SHSAT proposal, these high-achieving students would have also worked hard to excel in their state scores.

Regardless of what measure we use for determining a student’s academic merit, these students would have worked very hard. And I’d argue that maintaining a top 7% rank at school is harder than passing a single 3-hr multiple-choice exam.