Test-Optional: Is It Really a Choice?
by Valerie Erde
March 2022 Breaking News About Standardized TEsting
MIT: Citing reasons of academic preparedness and improved equity, MIT will join Georgetown and the University of Georgia system in reinstating the ACT and SAT for 2022 applicants. (And the U. North Carolina system - including flagship UNC - plans on reinstating standardized testing for 2023 applicants.) You can read the full MIT announcement here which address MIT’s reasoning to academic assessment and math performance in particular, but I think these quotes regarding standardized testing and equity (what I like to call the least unfair part of a generally unfair process) are among the most important:
“We are reinstating our requirement in order to be transparent and equitable in our expectations. Our concern is that, without the compelling clarity of a requirement, some well-prepared applicants won’t take the tests, and we won’t have enough information to be confident in their academic readiness when they apply. We believe it will be more equitable — and less anxiety-inducing — if we require all applicants who take the tests to disclose their scores, rather than ask each student to strategically guess whether or not to send them to us.
As I wrote, low-income students, underrepresented students of color, and other disadvantaged populations often do not attend schools that offer advanced coursework (and if they do, they are less likely to be able to take it). They often cannot afford expensive enrichment opportunities, cannot expect lengthy letters of recommendation from their overburdened teachers, or cannot otherwise benefit from this kind of educational capital. ”
Boston College: Boston College has reported that in year two of their test optional policy, 67% of students whom they admitted from the high school class of 2022 submitted test scores.
I will continue to update this section and/or write a completely new post as more information and results become available.
What We’ve Learned From Test Optional Admissions
The pandemic forced so many changes in our lives, and for high school students — and their families — one of the biggest was in college admissions. When schools shut down in spring the of 2020 and went remote later that fall, SAT and ACT administrations were canceled across the country. In response, 1,686 colleges and universities adopted a test-optional admissions policy for applicants.
Now that we have the results of one full college admissions cycle under these changed policies, what have we learned? The actual effects of the policies may not have actually changed the admissions landscape all that much. Here’s what you should know, especially if your child is trying to decide whether to participate in standardized tests or whether/where to submit those scores.
Test Optional Mostly Means Test Preferred
Update Feb. 2022: read this Chronicle of Higher Ed. article and my letter-to-editor reply regarding Test Optional.
A test-optional policy means that colleges don’t require you to send in scores. As I wrote in last year’s blog post that’s not the same thing as a test free (blind), policy, though. Test-optional colleges will still consider SAT and ACT scores if you send them, and now we have a better sense of how much they matter.
It turns out they definitely do matter — especially at highly selective institutions. For example, during Georgetown’s Early Action (EA) round, only 7.34% of EA admitted students didn’t submit scores. At the University of Pennsylvania, the rate of score-free ED admits was 24%. That’s better, but it doesn’t inspire confidence that the test-free route is a good one.
In fact, a quote from The University of Pennsylvania’s Dean of Admissions, Eric Furda, which appears in a recent book he co-authored on the college admissions process simply highlights the importance of ACT and SAT scores:
“There is in fact a wide range in the degree of weight given to standardized test scores, relative to other factors, across the university landscape. But in general, even at institutions that practice the holistic admissions process, test scores are considered at the same level of import as the rigor of one’s high school courses and the grades received in them.”
As a former U. Penn faculty member and college admissions expert Dr. Aviva Legatt points out, test-optional policies are somewhat circular in that they make it easier for more students to apply. When this leads to more applications to sift through, how can admissions officers tell if a student is academically qualified? The answer, unsurprisingly, is through their test scores. Dr. Legatt concludes that “test-optional will always mean test-preferred.”
For Testing Decisions, Consider Your Cohort
While it’s true that test-optional policies led to a huge drop in the total number of applicants submitting scores, the numbers vary greatly across demographic groups. Dr. Preston Magouirk, a data scientist working with Common App, reported that only 43% of applicants sent test scores in 2020-2021 — a drop from 77% the year before. But the breakdown of the data reveals important information:
Students from affluent families (as determined by zip code) were far more likely to report test results to colleges.
White and Asian students were more likely to submit scores.
Students applying to more selective colleges were more likely to submit scores.
Underrepresented minorities and first-generation students were less likely to report scores.
A recent ACT market research study and conversations with admissions officers lend further support to Dr. Legatt’s contention that at Test Optional institutions, ACT/SAT scores ”will always be preferred.”
Admissions officers still value test scores because they offer “corroborating evidence” of students’ grades and academic potential at their school in light of widespread grade inflation and variations in high school curricula.
Four-year higher education institutions report significant use of testing data in almost every aspect of the enrollment process, despite the 20-30% decrease in students sending test scores.
So What Does This Mean For You?
Remember, your college application is first and foremost read in the context of your high school and your peers. So you may want to consider who your peer group is, and what they will be doing. If you live in an affluent community and will be compared with others who are more likely to submit scores, you’ll probably want to submit yours, too, to stay competitive.
Be Strategic About Score Submission
Another big piece of news from the Common App data scientists is that, although most students are still testing, they are not always sending their scores. Many more students are sending scores selectively or strategically: that is, not all scores go to all schools. Specifically, Dr. Magouirk reported that 24% of applicants sent test scores to some but not all of the colleges they applied to. He expects this trend to continue.
Unless you are applying to a test-required or test-free (blind) college, you’re in a position to consider your strategy. What I’m hearing from admissions committee representatives and high school and independent college counselors is that using the 25th-50th-75th test score percentiles of each college will help students decide how competitive their scores are. If your score is above the 75th percentile, you are well above average for that particular college, and sending your scores will likely give your application a boost. If your test score is closer to the 25th percentile, you may decide not to submit.
From Boston College’s Admissions Website:
“If I choose to submit standardized test results, could that impact my chances of admission?”
“Yes. Test scores of applicants who choose to submit them will be used as a factor within our holistic admission review as we render our decisions. For admission to the Class of 2025, the middle 50% range for enrolled students was 1430-1510 on the SAT and 33-34 on the ACT.”
But you’ll also want to consider your test scores in context of the rest of your application. How’s your GPA and course rigor? Do you have strong AP exam scores? Do you have truly stand-out activities — perhaps being recognized on a state or national level? Do you have an incredible essay?
What If I Choose Not To Send ACT/SAT Scores?
If you choose not to send your scores, the rest of your application should be very, very strong. The above mentioned studies and anecdotal comments also indicate that in the absence of test scores
most institutions relied even more heavily on transcripts and GPA (74 percent of publics, 60 percent of privates)
Public colleges are relying more heavily on essays and recommendation letters, but that’s not necessarily the case at private universities.
What’s Next? Test Optional Will Continue, Test-Free, Unlikely
Most colleges remain test-optional for this 2021-22 admissions cycle, but beyond that it’s unclear. Like so many things that have changed during the pandemic, we’re just not sure how long the changes will last or if policies will revert back to pre-pandemic norms. But here are two main takeaways/predictions:
Significant expansion of test-free (blind) admissions is unlikely: Schools consider standardized test score data as too useful to abandon altogether (and respondents in the ACT survey indicated that they feel students should be allowed to submit test scores if they wish to do so).
I’ll certainly be keeping a close eye on the admissions landscape and continue to share my findings. In the meantime, it’s a good idea for most students to prepare for the SAT or ACT. Please get in touch to learn more about Veridian’s ACT and SAT test prep programs, or check out our blog for more helpful information.