What is Test Optional? What is Test Blind?

Test optional

This is the middle ground: students may choose to send scores if they have them. The vast majority of schools have this testing policy in place. And this is where things get very sticky. So, should a student submit or not? Every year in their Common Data Set, colleges and universities report the 25th to 75th percentile of SAT and ACT scores as well as the % of incoming students that reported test scores. The general rule of thumb, that we tend to agree with, is that if you student is above the 50th percentile of the range then they should submit their score to that school.

And how, exactly, will a student with scores be compared to a student without them?  Unlike the “test blind” policy in which scores will not be considered for any applicant, the playing field under the “test optional” policy is unclear at best and completely uneven at worst. On our College Admissions Experts Facebook Group of over 100,000 members, parents are continually asking whether their student should submit scores to College X and, if they don’t submit, will it hurt their chances of being admitted?

Test blind

The University of California System is an example of schools that will not even look at test scores even if they are submitted. A test blind school will look at all applications without any reference to scores whatsoever. The admissions office won’t even see SAT or ACT scores. Thus all students are immediately put on an even (scoreless) playing field—or so it seems (more on that in a minute).

How many times should I take the SAT? How many times should I take the ACT?

Like mentioned earlier, the vast majority of schools are test optional. However, reporting a SAT or ACT score that is above average for a college will increase your odds of being accepted.

So, how many times should you take the SAT or ACT? As many times as necessary until you feel that you are not making any material improvement. If you score a 1400 on your SAT but your goal is the Ivy League universities then you will likely need to take it again as almost all of the Ivies require test scores. The average SAT score at the Ivies is the mid-1500s so, unless you have a hook, take the SAT again. As you can ‘superscore’ your SAT and ACT results’ for almost every college, these schools will have no idea how many times you took the exam.

However, if you are aiming for less selective colleges, a 1400 is a fantastic SAT score to report. Don’t waste your valuable time taking the SAT again unless you could be eligible for merit aid with a higher SAT score. If you are applying to liberal arts colleges that are truly test optional, then don’t take the SAT again unless you are convinced you can materially increase your score. Your time is best spent elsewhere on sharpening other aspects of your application like GPA and activities.

Holistic Review vs. Clear Standards

College and universities, both private and public, emphasize (even before the pandemic) that they perform a “holistic review” of students for admission. Supposedly, no one criterion is is make or break for a student. The admissions officers look at everything before rendering their decision. These factors include both objective and subjective indicators. But the only objective ones are test scores, AP scores, class rank, and level of awards earned from international down to local.

Moreover, in poring over the many messages on other professional information exchanges, it becomes apparent that some schools will still see scores even if the student elects on the application to go test optional. This is because the colleges control what they download from the Common App. If the student enters the scores into the application, then an admissions officer at a test optional school may still be able to see those scores.

Even if the student has asked that the scores NOT be considered, the reader of the application cannot really “unsee” the scores.

While I’d like to believe that an admissions officer will duly take the student’s wishes into account, if the score is on the application I am still going to assume that the admissions officer will somehow, someway take these scores into account in the “holistic” review—even if they promise not to. If it’s on the application, it will be taken into account—even informally or subliminally. You can’t unsee a score that is staring at you on the page.

Are colleges really test optional?

When the process is so subjective and the process so opaque, whom can you trust to give a kid a fair shake? Can we really trust the people in an admissions office to make the best choices?

Now let me just say that I think that the vast majority of college admissions officers are honorable people. They believe in their mission to open up higher education to a wide variety of young people. The believe that universities are engines of social mobility, and they may believe (against the evidence) that the holistic process of admissions is as fair and transparent as possible. They try hard to balance the needs of the institution they serve while offering opportunity for deserving young people.

And yet, given the extraordinarily subjective nature of this process how can we really trust that the application my son or daughter submits to a particular college will get a fair shake? Since the process is emphatically not transparent, and since the judgments being rendered seem—from the outside—completely random, why would I believe the calming rhetoric coming from admissions offices?

For many, college admissions is a very high stakes game. If the success or failure of my daughter’s application turns on the subjective judgment of a couple of anonymous people in the admission office and not on any objective indicators like test scores—how can I be confident that the process works?

A great number of families do not trust that the process works. So, they hire independent college consultants to help them navigate the mysterious world of college admission. These families understand the inherently subjective nature of the process and engage specialists to help give their kids an edge.

What Private College Counselors Tell Clients About Standardized Tests

Quite simple: take the tests.

“Test optional” means take the tests. And get a high score.

If you want to go to an elite college, and you have the opportunity (or can create the opportunity—even by driving across three states to an open testing site). You will have a better chance with a score than without.

At Great College Advice, we are telling our clients that it is beneficial to put together a standardized testing plan. In an admissions process with very, very few objective data points, the possession of a positive, very useful data point (your SAT and/or ACT score) can make the difference between acceptance and rejection.

Furthermore, private college counselors—and others who work with high-achieving, hard-driving students—know that colleges can pledge an oath not to judge an application negatively if it arrives on their desks without test scores. But these pledges are impossible to verify. And they are pretty empty, given the institutional incentives to bring in students with high scores if they have them.

Every college wants to see high SAT/ACT scores

Even colleges with “test optional” admissions policies have incentives to collect test scores that are at the upper ends of their ranges. They want the high scores, but don’t want the low ones. Colleges that have been test optional for decades, including Bates and Bowdoin, still report “average” test scores of incoming students to the ratings agencies and to the US government and in their Common Data Set. But these averages are skewed, because only students with high scores will “opt” to include them on their application.

Test optional colleges won’t say it out loud, but they really prefer that students with high test scores submit them. And those with lower test scores “opt” not to send them. This way, the average submitted test scores remain high and this is the number that the test optional college reports on.

The process of deciding whom to admit and whom to reject is secretive, opaque, and “holistic”—which means it is entirely subjective. The only way to convince me that test scores won’t be considered in any way in the admissions process is for the school to either implement an entirely test-blind policy and suppress the scores from even reaching the admissions office.

Need help with the college admissions process?

The expert admissions counselors at Great College Advice can not only assist with developing a standardized test plan but also help with high school course selection, extracurricular activities, researching colleges and overseeing the college application process.

Contact us today for your complimentary consultation.

The post What Does Test Optional Mean? It Means Take the Tests first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

The PSAT/NMSQT test dates are typically in October. In order to participate, you must sign up at your high school or at another school in your community. 

As you prepare, remember that this test measures three specific things:

• Critical reading skills
• Math problem-solving skills
• Writing skills

This test can be a great opportunity to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie and gain a better understand of what you may need to study in preparation for the SAT. In addition, you may find yourself receiving a lot of great college information and mailings if you  check “yes” to Student Search Service when completing the test.
To learn more about this test, please visit The College Board. If you are interested in developing a testing plan and schedule for yourself, or for your student, please let us know and contact us at Great College Advice.
Good luck on the test!
 

The post Are You a High School Junior? It’s Time For The PSAT! first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

• Mind Fish: mindfish.com: A free set of online games and tools that are backed up with both individual tutoring and group instruction.
• ePrep.com:  An online video program that reviews all the concepts that appear on the tests. For a discount on this program, contact us.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS):  www.ets.org
• Free Test Preparation Help:  https://www.testprepreview.com/

Katherine Price
Educational Consultant

The post College Planning For Juniors: Standardized Testing Preparation first appeared on College Admission Counseling.

Ostensibly, this new policy is to alleviate the stress of taking the tests, and to give more power to students in the admissions process. However, at the same time, the College Board is telling colleges that they can have their own policies with regard to “Score Choice,” thereby eliminating any real “choice” by the students. Colleges still retain the right to see whatever scores they want to see.

As the article points out, the College Board is talking out of both sides of its mouth. To its student customers, it is saying, “we’re here for you…we care about your pain and suffering.” To it’s college and university customers, it is saying, “we’ll help you implement your policies and subvert student choice, if that’s what you want.”

Face it, folks. Higher education is a multi-billion dollar business in the USA. Colleges and universities act as businesses. The College Board is a company. It may be classified as a “non-profit” for tax purposes, but it has revenue goals like any other economic entity. And College Board competes in our capitalistic system alongside the ACT.

The problem is that the College Board has two sets of customers whose needs and interests are, if not diametrically opposed, at least in conflict. The College Board sits squarely between the colleges–who want ways to compare apples to oranges in an educational environment that is chaotically diverse–and high school students–who want the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light with the minimum of stress.

My advice to clients is to not to get caught up in a frenzy. Test scores are important aspects of the overall application process, especially to the most selective colleges. While I have seen a few students make huge leaps in their performance on these tests, most make only modest gains–even after extensive (and often expensive) test preparation tutoring. I do not think that these tests are particularly fair. Nor do I believe that they are measures of aptitude or predictors of future success. And I applaud colleges who dare to move away from using them.

But it doesn’t do high school juniors and seniors much good to get agitated, indignant, stressed, or depressed. The tests aren’t fair? Well, life isn’t fair And it we may as well start learning this little fact at age 17.

So again, what do I tell my clients?
–Prepare the best you can.
–Make realistic goals based on the reality of the numbers.
–Develop a strategy to present yourself in the best light possible.
–Do not allow your test scores or grades to define you as human being.
–Remember that there are many paths to success–and it’s never too late to choose a different one.

In short, let the professional educators, policy makers, and people like me rail against the unfairness and silliness of it all. For now, just do your work, enjoy your life, and have confidence that you have many wonderful opportunities ahead.

Great College Advice

The post SAT, Score Choice, and the Business of Standardized Testing first appeared on College Admission Counseling.