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June 8, 2024: At the onset of the pandemic in 2020 (was that really 4 years ago?), I predicted that the rise in test-optional admission policies would eventually backfire.
Well, not to say I told you so—but as I sit down to write this blog, I’m feeling like Nostradamus: all of a sudden, many top institutions such as Stanford, MIT, and the Ivy League colleges are rushing to reinstate their standardized testing requirements.
The main reason? Graduation rates. It turns out—which, to be honest, we knew all along—that SAT and ACT scores are more predictive of college success than are high school grades.
Thus, as many of those very students admitted without SAT or ACT scores during the pandemic are struggling to pass their classes and/or graduate on time, elite universities have done a huge about-face on the issue, including bellwether Harvard, who had previously committed to test optional policies through 2026, but has since abandoned that commitment in favor of a test-required policy.
In addition, colleges have since realized that many students were in fact taking the SAT and/or ACT, but still choosing not to send scores (perhaps because they were slightly below average for the college) that in reality, would have strengthened their applications when overall demographic factors are considered, such as family income, access to opportunities, and public vs. private schools.
Reinstating the standardized test requirement will have the beneficial effect of making these “score shy” students more likely to win admission. Even Yale’s dean of admissions, Jeremiah Quinlan, recently let it slip on a podcast that only 2% of applicants who did not send SAT or ACT scores were earning an offer of admission—less than half Yale’s overall admission rate of 4.5%!
Of course, I cannot conclude an essay on this issue without first acknowledging my obvious bias.
In 1997, I was able to earn admission to Harvard, partially through my 99% SAT and PSAT scores, so I know better than most the value of standardized testing to one’s college application. Attending one of the world’s top universities (and graduating with honors) has changed my life for the better in countless ways.
Today, I’m the founder of this company, and a digital SAT and ACT expert who tutors standardized tests for a living. I’ve done so professionally since my graduation in 2002, and my clients pay me quite well for my expertise and decades of experience.
So yes, I’m definitely biased!
However, even for colleges and universities that technically remain test optional, the data we have seen so far is unambiguous: in some cases, students who apply to colleges with SAT or ACT scores are twice as likely to win admission. (Of course, for truly “test blind” schools such as those in the University of California system, this is not the case.)
If you hadn’t planned on taking these exams, but are realizing now that you will need to do so, then please, give me a call or send me a message: I'm an expert and I can help.
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