Applying to college is a complex process, and as the SAT Reasoning Test undergoes changes, it will become even more convoluted.

The College Board announced starting spring 2016, the SAT will change substantially, reverting to a 1600 point scale instead of the previous 2400 points. Changes include making the essay portion optional, removing archaic vocabulary words and making it easier.

This change will limit the tests’ ability to measure students’ reasoning skills and as a result will further complicate the college application process.

To match the popularity of the ACT, which lacks an essay, the SAT will eliminate the writing section, according to the Washington Post.

However, in a report issued by the College Board in 2008, the writing section of the SAT was the best indicator of academic success in college, with a 51 percent correlation to first-year college grade point average.

Learning to write well is one of the most important skills a student can have, regardless of what field they enter. As the statistics demonstrate, it is the most relevant assessment the SAT has to gauge how well a student will perform in college. The College Board also plans to make the reading section easier, removing challenging vocabulary questions and simplifying the reading comprehension questions. By making it easier, the test will fail to assess the critical thinking and analytical skills it aims to measure.

Finally, the College Board plans to replace advanced mathematical concepts from the test with a greater focus on mental calculations and simple arithmetic.

At the college level, the ability to compute numbers without the aid of a calculator is meaningless. Testing critical thinking skills is a far better way to measure potential.

The changes the College Board plans to implement may make the test easier for students, but will make college admissions more difficult.

The College Board should rethink the planned changes lest the SAT become an utterly useless metric of student ability.