Malala Yousafzai Should Have to take the SAT/ACT Before Applying to Stanford

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist known mainly for her human rights advocacy, particularly for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had banned girls from attending school. Malala's advocacy has since grown into an international movement, where she stands at the forefront of movements to provide access to education and for women's human rights. Without a doubt, Malala is one of the most important people alive right now. Her story is inspirational to anyone looking to make the world a better place. Her advocacy started when she was 11. At the time, Malala started writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC detailing her life under Taliban occupation. Malala quickly rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and television. At the age of 12, she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu. Throughout her teenage years, she advocated for women's education, completely changing the landscape of women's education in Taliban-controlled areas in Pakistan. The Taliban voiced a specific intent to kill her because of her advocacy. And in 2012, a gunman boarded her school bus, asked for Malala by name, pointed a pistol at her, and fired three shots. Malala survived, and the assassination attempt thrust Malala further into the international spotlight, helping spread her influence and advocacy for education. Indeed, in January 2013, Deutsche Welle Malala was "the most famous teenager in the world." United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown launched a UN petition in Malala's name, demanding that all children worldwide be in school by the end of 2015; it helped lead to the ratification of Pakistan's first Right to Education Bill. In 2013, Time magazine featured Malala as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World." She won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize, as well as the 2013 Sakharov Prize. Since 2013, Malala has spoken numerous times at the headquarters of the United Nations to call for worldwide access to education. Canada has conferred Honorary Canadian citizenship upon Malala. In February 2014, she was nominated for the World Children's Prize in Sweden. In May 2014, Malala was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of King's College in Halifax. Later in 2014, Malala was announced as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. Aged 17 at the time, Malala became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. --- Malala has been the voice of millions who have been silenced. She fights for women's education, has opened up her own school, has stood up to the Taliban, and has survived an assassination attempt on her. Why should someone like Malala need to take the SAT/ACT? What will taking the SAT/ACT prove? In her 18 years of life, she's accomplished more than most graduates of Stanford ever will. In fact, she's accomplished more than many of the professors at Stanford. The idea that Malala should take the SAT to go to Stanford is absurd. Let's first take a look at what Malala will contribute to Stanford. She'll add more to in-class discussions than any other student at Stanford. Imagine taking a class on philosophy 101 with someone like Malala sitting next to you, offering her perspective on the world's greatest thinkers; not only would the students learn more but so will professors. Malala will also add her voice to Stanford's campus. If her history is any indication, she'll be involved in student organizations, help other brilliant minds get involved in human rights advocacy, help create a community where other students are able to get involved in politics and changing the world. In fact, having Malala as a student will attract brilliant students to Stanford. The game-changers will want to go to Stanford because they'll have the opportunity to take classes with Malala, to meet Malala, to know her as a colleague. So, that's what Malala adds to Stanford. She improves Stanford's learning environment significantly. What would happen if Malala wanted to teach college classes on human rights advocacy? Every single university in the country would hire her as an adjunct professor, including Stanford. In fact, most universities would kill to have Malala teach a class on human rights advocacy - because Malala is the kind of person universities pay lots of money to so that they come to the university and give a talk - she's the kind of person who could fill an auditorium with Stanford students inspired by her voice. I don't know how else I can make the absurdity of making Malala take the SAT clearer: what sense is there in hiring Malala as a professor without the SAT but requiring the SAT if she wants to take classes at Stanford? Malala should be welcomed into any university with open arms. She is one of the most impressive individuals who has lived in the 21st century. To say that one of the most important women in the entire world needs to take the SAT to gain entrance to Stanford is simply absurd. -- Let's go back to the purpose of the SAT. It's a standardized test. It's purpose is measuring students coming from different high schools across the country against each other. One student might have a 3.5 GPA at a high school where everyone is brilliant and classes are curved; that student scores a perfect score on the SAT, so it helps evaluate the student against other students who have a similar or higher GPA. That's why you can have a 4.0 but not get admitted to top schools - you also need to show other strengths. The purpose is comparison. Malala is beyond comparison. She's won more important awards, including a nobel peace prize, than most of Stanford's professors, and certainly more than any of the other students applying to Stanford. Using the SAT to compare Malala with other prospective students is absurd; Malala would be admitted regardless of what she scores on the SAT. This brings me to my next point: no school has SAT or GPA cutoffs. In other words, they look at the complete package. They weigh the SAT against other factors, including your accomplishments outside of an academic context. This is what would happen to Malala. Her SAT is irrelevant to her admission. She could get every question wrong on the SAT and still get admitted to Stanford because she's simply one of the most impressive individuals currently alive. To sum up: Stanford would benefit immensely from admitting Malala, Stanford would admit Malala regardless of what she scores on the SAT, and forcing Malala to take the SAT runs against the very purpose of the SAT, which is to compare prospective students against other prospective students. Malala is beyond comparison with these other prospective students. It's like saying Obama would need to take the SAT if he wanted to go back to school and study at Stanford. The entire proposition is absurd.