In the light of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Case Western Reserve University and three other colleges went test-optional last week, citing the cancellation of SAT and ACT exams in March, April, and May. Case Western's vice president for enrollment management said, “We would rather students focus as best they can on their academic subjects rather than worrying about the SAT or ACT. Testing has always been just one factor in our evaluation of applications, and we are confident that we will continue to make quality admission decisions for those students who are either unable to test or who choose not to submit test scores.” Another representative from the school also commented, "These scores have always made up just a portion of our evaluation of prospective students, and we don't want our future applicants to feel hamstrung by circumstances far outside their control." As a school counselor, I'm sure that my colleges will follow suit within a few weeks or months, and I'm sure that the College Board and the ACT are freaking out.
Why do you ask? I've been a counselor for close to fifteen years, and every year, colleges decide to remove entrance exams. Generally speaking, those schools on this list tend to be smaller, private colleges, which often have significantly fewer applicants than larger institutions. As a result, such schools can afford to spend more time considering everything an applicant has to offer, rather than concentrating only on grades and test scores. Some of these test-optional colleges include highly selective institutions such as the University of Chicago (IL), Bowdoin (ME), College of the Holy Cross (MA), Providence (RI), Franklin & Marshall (PA), Hamilton (NY), Smith (MA), Pitzer (CA), Middlebury (VT), Muhlenberg (PA), and Union (NY). For a complete list, visit the website www.fairtest.org.
Sound too good to be true? You are correct to ask yourself what the motivation could be behind a practice that creates more work for schools by making the process less objective. For those skeptics out there, rest assured, these colleges truly are test-optional, and it will not be held against your son or daughter in admissions if s/he chooses not to submit scores. As it turns out, colleges actually reap many benefits, prestige-wise, by not requiring the submission of scores in the application process. According to Lynn Shaughnessy’s (2009) article in the New York Times, it has long been documented that standardized tests favor families from higher socioeconomic brackets who can afford expensive test-preparation courses. Since colleges are engaged in an intense competition to recruit more applications each year, test-optional policies are alluring because they attract significantly more students, particularly ethnically diverse ones. Additionally, the onslaught of applications received after a school removes a testing requirement often makes the school in question appear to be more selective. This phenomenon occurs because colleges maintain the same number of freshman seats each year, but now students who may not have considered the school a possibility due to lower scores become much more likely to throw their hats into the ring. Colleges making the switch from test-mandatory to test-optional typically see an immediate ten to twenty percent increase in the number of applications they receive, whereas it would normally cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional recruitment expenses to achieve the same results. Because “selectivity” is one of many measures used by periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report to create their lists of college rankings, test-optional schools ultimately see their “prestige” rise due to the simple laws of supply and demand.
Another direct effect of not requiring students to submit their test scores is that the average SAT score of accepted applicants is artificially inflated. Because students with low scores are less likely to share their results with admissions officers, their numbers cannot be included in a college’s published averages each year. According to Shaugnessy’s (2009) article, applicants who do not divulge their SAT results generally score 100 to 150 points lower than a typical submitter. Consider Mount Holyoke as an example of this phenomenon: in 2001, when their admissions office required SAT scores as part of a student’s profile, the middle 50 percent of accepted applicants reported scores of 1170-1360 out of 1600. Years later, with only 70% of applicants submitting scores, the range jumped 60 points on both ends, and is now at 1270-1490.
After reading this information, the reader might ask, "Why report scores at all at a test-optional college?" Although there is no current data to suggest how widespread the practice is, it is suspected that a significant number of colleges use test scores as a determining factor in awarding merit scholarships. Sound contradictory? You are right to have raised an eyebrow at this practice; Debra Shaver, director of admissions at Smith, an institution that does not use test scores to award merit scholarships, was quoted as saying, “You can’t say, ‘Tests are not a good tool in the process,” and then say, ‘If you don’t submit your scores you can’t qualify for merit aid’...it doesn’t make sense.”
Whether hypocritical or not, the fact remains that going test-optional has been a hot trend for colleges each year, and with the windfall of COVID-19 this spring, I am guessing that removing a testing barrier will make practical sense for all students applying in the Fall of 2020. And, even though colleges are purporting that this policy is only for the application season of 2020-21, I do wonder if the benefits associated with this decision will entice them to make it their standard approach. Regardless of what occurs in the future, it is important for students and parents to make informed decisions when deciding whether to submit scores at these schools. As with every facet of the application process, thorough research is your best protection against missing out on an opportunity to gain admission or a possible scholarship at a college or university. Juniors should email admissions officers for their individual advice regarding what criteria should be used when deciding whether or not to report scores to their specific institution, and parents should be listening to responses with an open yet critical ear. As always, if questions persist, do not hesitate to ask a high school counselor for input.
All statistics and quotations courtesy of Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s article, “The Other Side of Test-Optional,” appearing in the July 26th 2009 edition of The New York Times.
