<p>Here’s an excerpt from a post made by Kent Rinehart, Marist’s Dean of Admission,
on the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) listserve today: </p>
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</p>
<p>Do you see this as a positive, or is it too soon to tell how this kind of approach will pan out?</p>
<p>My D visited Marist April 2010 and she will definitely apply - it’s in her top 6 college apps. Going to test optional is a plus. Any other thoughts on this school? She’s most interested in Communications and sports management/broadcasting.</p>
<p>Are they going to change their merit awards? I know Marist had a scale for SAT scores and money received.
My D’s got merit and need-based but without the merit, we couldn’t have considered it. “Maybe” they will judge it differently. I know when I asked Stonehill about this (another test optional school) they never could give me a straight answer. It’s something I hope they will address for incoming parents.
I know for some parents/colleges, they feel the SAT/ACT is a better indicator for success (I don’t) but when they offer SAT optional, they still don’t consider grades/GPA for merit. Some do and I respect that, (Smith, Drew and many others) but some don’t. It seems hypocritical to me not too.</p>
<p>Good question about the merit awards, Debruns. You should contact them and see if they’re more forthcoming than Stonehill was. In the past, I always found that Marist was one of the more candid colleges when it came to clarifying who was in the running for merit aid … and for how much. A lot of colleges seem intentionally vague (“Our highest awards will go to students who are at the top of our admission pool” Yeah? Well, how much is that and for whom?).</p>
<p>So I’ll be interested in seeing if Marist continues their forthright tradition under these new circumstances.</p>
<p>sylvan8798–I usually do see this sort of decision as positive. However, candidates to test-optional colleges need to realize that if their profile makes them similar to the majority of their competitor candidates, the ones who submit strong (or even just decent) test scores often edge out the ones who withhold tests. If the candidate has traits that the college really *wants<a href=“e.g.,%20special%20talents,%20athletic%20prowess,%20minority%20or%20typical%20background,%20VIP%20status”>/i</a> then the no-test policy can be a win-win. But for the more garden-variety applicants who may be hovering somewhere between the “In” and “Out” piles, not submitting tests may turn out to be a liability, unless, of course, the test scores are so crummy that they’re a liability themselves anyway.</p>
<p>On a different topic, re Marist, they were very quick to get back to me about a S/D in grad school with one in undergrad, were they counted,they said yes, and their package showed that.
I can’t tell you how many ways I had to phrase it with others. : )</p>