[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Students in fields such as law or medicine know their fates will eventually be sealed by an ominous and inescapable exam. Tests like these decide who will enter the workforce and who will be forced into another career. Society has long considered these measures of intelligence as flawless and continues to depend on them — but that time may be coming to a close.

[HUMANITIES PROFESSORS NEED TO STOP FOCUSING ON FREUD ALREADY]

The bar exam all law students are required to take has recently been under scrutiny, as this year’s scores were much lower than last year’s in more than 50,000 students. The students in question had the lowest exam scores in over a decade, which alarmed various deans of law schools across the country. People began to wonder if the problem was with the test and not the students forced to take it.

Critics call the intensely detail-oriented test an “unacceptable impediment to the legal profession” and claim it is not a fair representation of who will be a good lawyer. Many of the most sought-out professions use a testing mechanism similar to the bar, such as the MCAT in medicine or the DAT in dentistry. These exams are too highly involved in the scholarly aspect and do not look enough at the student himself/herself on a practical and personal level, making it harder for individuals who would thrive in their respective industry to even get the opportunity to try.

The bar test is principally multiple choice and centers around the specific and tedious details of the law. Although there is nothing wrong with attempting to test everything concerning the law, it is definitely too lofty and unreasonable a goal to expect students to remember everything and completely heinous to use the exam to subsequently deny entry into the profession.

Each of these licensing exams — which determine if an individual will get into school or will be able to freely practice their desired profession — focuses mainly on memorization and a student’s understanding of the basic material taught to them. The tests undoubtedly have their merit and weed out students who have not put in the time and dedication it takes to fully comprehend the intricacies of any given field. But the components of each exam either need to be diversified or the test itself should be given far less weight in terms of a student’s future than it currently has.

For example, things like performance in internships should have a huge part in determining if a student can practice law — or medicine and dentistry for that matter. It is much more crucial to test how an individual acts and carries responsibility in the workforce than to test how much they can memorize in a short period of time. Schools must start creating alternatives to these exams and let students display their breadth of knowledge in more ways than one if they are to ensure that every student who deserves a place in their respective profession receives one.

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