Many high school students hoping colleges would keep optional policies on ACT and SAT scores will have to dig out those test prep guides from under their beds or in the back of their closets.
While the University System of Georgia announced last week it will continue to waive scores at all but its most selective campuses, some elite schools are abandoning the test-optional policies precipitated by the pandemic.
The California Institute of Technology and Harvard College are the most recent campuses to cease their test waivers. These high-profile rescindments will likely prompt more campuses to follow suit.
In announcing Harvard’s decision this month, a dean said in a statement: “Standardized tests are a means for all students, regardless of their background and life experience, to provide information that is predictive of success in college and beyond. ... In short, more information, especially such strongly predictive information, is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range.”
Yale, Brown and Dartmouth — small Ivy League campuses with outsized influence — are also reviving testing requirements for admission. Dartmouth leaders acted because of its own findings that SAT and ACT scores boosted odds of admission for low-income students to their campus and predicted success once at the college.
Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock acknowledged the research indicating that higher-income students with access to exam prep and better-resourced high schools had a testing edge. But in a statement, she said, “Crucially, though, the research shows that standardized test scores can be an important predictor of academic success at a place like Dartmouth and beyond — more so even than just grades or recommendations, for example — and with a test-optional policy, prompted by the pandemic, we were unintentionally overlooking applicants from less-resourced backgrounds who could thrive here.”
Not all schools are returning to pre-pandemic admissions standards. Emory will remain test-optional, although John F. Latting, dean of admission and associate vice provost, said the university is “doing a deep dive study about this matter involving faculty and carefully looking at data.”
“We have four years of the test optional format, and I will say it’s worked well for us,” said Latting. “We are pleased with our ability to predict academic success and the effects on the applicant pool have been really positive. The signaling to the public is an important factor. Being test optional signals that tests are the not be-all-and-end-all of the process, and I think that’s a healthy message to send.”
Half of Emory applicants still submit SAT or ACT scores, along with scores on Advanced Placement tests. “It is positive to have a high-test score, just like any strong credential,” said Latting.
Some colleges discovered that waiving test scores and relying on grade-point averages, teacher recommendations and nonacademic laurels weren’t yielding the desired applicant quality or diversity. Yes, test scores reflect privilege, but extracurriculars, athletic prowess and student essays favor affluent applicants even more.
Holistic admissions standards gave greater advantage to the already advantaged because it turns out money can help enhance a college essay and a tennis serve. Expensive private high schools employ seasoned college counselors who devote the summer to penning persuasive recommendation letters for rising seniors and have admissions officers at top campuses on speed dial.
Harvard highlighted the research of faculty member Raj Chetty, who studies opportunity and intergenerational mobility. Chetty found children from the highest income levels reaped the most benefit when colleges assigned more weight to nonacademic factors. And those nonacademic factors didn’t predict or align with success at college or beyond.
Another phenomenon fueling this return to admissions tests is grade inflation. While waiving test scores for all campuses except the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia College & State University, Chancellor Sonny Perdue said the policy could change in the future and referenced bloated GPAs.
“I think there’s some concern, over the desire for HOPE scholarship and others, that we’re seeing some grade inflation in the state,” said Perdue at last week’s Board of Regents meeting.
In reinstating standardized test scores last month as an admissions requirement, the president of the University of Texas, Austin, noted the jump in applicants with GPAs near or at 4.0. University President Jay Hartzell called an ACT or SAT score “a proven differentiator that is in each student’s and the university’s best interest.”
