The issue is the definition of ‘best’ students. But I think you probably know that, and are choosing fear to support your stance, suggesting test optional elite schools might be losing the ‘best’ students. I find that both sad and ironic.
FWIW I don’t personally see TO as a panacea. It’s led to so much confusion out there, especially among counselors and students…you know, colleges’ customers.
Agreed, TO creates confusion and adds complexity to the process, so why not revert to what worked before Covid?
Around 1,000 four year colleges were test optional prior to Covid, do you mean those should stick with what they had? And similarly test blind and test required schools with their pre-covid policy?
Yes, Covid was a one time exception, it’s time for schools to revert to what worked pre COVID.
I’m sorry that TO is not working for Williams.
TO leads to an increase in applications (for obvious reasons). Get rid of it and application numbers go down. Which means acceptance rates go up. That’s not what elite schools are looking for in this hyper-competitive environment.
Only half of the top 20 currently require test scores for admission. Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, Columbia, UCLA, Berkeley, Michigan, Vanderbilt, WashU, and Notre Dame are all TO or test blind. Chicago’s test-optional commitment came in 2018, pre-pandemic.
I’d love to see more schools adopt a “no-harm” test-optional policy. Among NESCAC schools, Conn takes this approach (outside the NESCAC, University of Chicago, Denison, and Colorado College do as well). This seems the most-student friendly option and takes the guesswork out of it for students, families, and counselors, especially when a student has an objectively high score that still falls just below the 25th percentile mark for highly selective schools. I’m curious to see whether more LACs will move toward this model.
IME some schools do read apps that way, they just don’t advertise it!
There are also plenty of schools where an AO will give guidance to the student wrt applying with or without a score before they apply.
The discussion of test optional is one that is both covered on other threads and transcends NECSAC. And since College Confidential is not a debate society, let’s move on.
Trinity’s Coffee House:
Coffee on Campus: Peter B’s Espresso and the Underground Coffeehouse | Trinity College
Middlebury is building a new art museum where Old Battell is now, creating a new arts quad.
My advice would be to defer to the good judgment of the people of Williams College. They’re pretty good at running their school, as their track record would indicate.
Hamilton will represent the NESCAC in the NCAA DIII Men’s Hockey final. Roll Conts!
NESCAC hockey is highly regarded for its depth. It’s good to see the NESCAC represented at or near the top as well.
Any way to watch or listen to this game live?
Scroll to the bottom, then click “Watch”:
With respect to a preview, the defending champions the Statesmen have won all of their 30 games so far this season, including a 7–0 defeat of the Panthers, a team the Continentals couldn’t find a way to beat in their two games against them in the regular season. In Hamilton’s favor, they came out with a 3–1 victory over the Utica Pioneers early in the season, a team Hobart was able to surpass twice, but with slim, one-goal margins, once in OT. To get past the Continentals, the Statesmen will have to solve their tight defense. To get past the Statesmen, the Continentals will have to solve a juggernaut. With luck, sports fans will be entertained.
