All good points, I agree it may be up to parents to make sure these issues remain in focus for school administrators. It would be easy for the PSAT for juniors to get lost as an example. Seems like even if remote learning is the thing, schools could still administer standardized tests on the scheduled Saturdays (assuming Illinois is in Phase 4 at that point).
I have heard from our testing coordinator that they believe there will be an SAT administered during the school day in Illinois sometime in the fall, but she was assuming school would be in session, at least partially. Illinois has waived the SAT graduation requirement for class of 2021 (which was the test they missed in the spring), so at least no one has to worry about that.
I also saw that Illinoisā Rt is below 1, so thatās great news. If that remains, I really donāt understand how schools say they canāt open for in-person instruction, they would not be basing decisions on science at that point. Of course, thereās still the extra cost issue though.
If only those with scores above the 50th percentile submitted, wouldnāt that lead to some scary high score ranges for the enrolled class of 2025? Perpetually increasing?
Intuitively, I think 50th percentile is too high a threshold for submitting. But I have no actual knowledge of anything, soā¦
Yes, I agree average scores will likely go up. This is why I am skeptical of some schools when they say they are going test optional. I havenāt heard one newly TO AO say submit your score if itās at the 25%ile.
That, and the fact we discussed above that some schools will limit the TO acceptances due to USNWR methodology. If USNWR changes their methodology to not penalize schools that have >25% TO students in the class, that would help.
Maybe test scores wonāt go up because colleges will request scores for enrolled students after the fact? Many colleges that have been doing TO admissions have been doing that. I did ask one of the AOs at a school on Dās list and he said they will request that info for all enrolled students but, if they literally have no score because they didnāt sit for a test, they will not make them go back and take a test.
This is a very helpful conversation to me ā so AOs are saying 50th percentile is the threshold to submit this year if they are TO? I hadnāt heard that. Iād love to continue to hear everyoneās thoughts on this as we get closer to submitting apps and the testing situation continues to unfold.
I would suggest to look for any specific program level score info, if available. For example, this website shows test scores for engineering students:
My D already has a score, but if she didnāt I would work my tail off to get her a test date and push her to be ready to nail it. She can always not send the score.
Is anyoneās rising senior thinking about going full online next year? My D mentioned it yesterday, and she might not have been all that serious, but itās definitely a thing. She thinks if school is a hybrid that itāll be easier to just go all online and knock the work out first thing in the morning.
Did anyone elseās child receive the survey from SAT? It was asking questions like - how would you feel about submitting your PSAT score instead of an SAT score.
My daughter was like, no thanks. Of course, she has an ACT to submit, but stillā¦ itās called āpreā SAT for a reason.
I want to be clear that I have heard that over the past year from various sources I read and listen to (podcasts, articles, etc.). I have not specifically asked and have not specifically heard if that recommendation now changes due to COVID-19. Also, maybe not all AOs recommend that. I would very much like to hear different takes if anyone has heard/read other things.
The reasoning behind the 50% mark or higher is supposedly that admissions folks donāt want lower scores dragging down their admitted studentsā SAT/ACT range (and thus affecting the collegeās ranking).
Many schools had moved to self-reporting of test scores prior to Covid-19 and I expect more will do so now. Where self-reporting is allowed, only matriculating students have to pay to send the official score.
So before you pay to send a score, make sure the school(s) actually require that.
@AlwaysMoving I think stressing out about a score is a bad idea, at least for kids applying to schools that are TO and truly holistic. If they are interested in a university that in not TO or needs scores for merit, thatās different.
D21 was stressed out from July 2019-March 2020 about testing, first prepping big time for the ACT and taking it twice and not scoring like she wanted. Hours and hours of prep and practice tests. Then, a switch to SAT when we got PSAT scores back and it seemed likely that the SAT is a better match for her. More hours of studying for that test, maybe four full practice sittings and then March cancelled and April at school cancelled and May cancelled. I cannot bring myself to tell her to start prepping again before the August test knowing it might not happen. She is so over it.
So, sheās signed up for Aug and Oct with a possible test in Sept also. Iāll have her revisit some full tests in early August but I am not going to put a lot of pressure on her. That would be counterproductive in her case. I do think she can apply and have a good chance at some high matches without a score and she has a heavy course load of classes starting August 10th. Those grades might prove more important than an SAT score.
@AlmostThere2018 Thanks for that link. Our S is very math oriented and has thought about engineering (though is researching majors because he really doesnāt know what he wants to do). It looks like with a 1520 (800M), heās only at the 25% for engineering at schools heās been considering. Heās signed up to take the ACT in July (heās done better on the reading/English ACT practices), and additional subject tests in August, but who knows if those tests will happen.
Assuming they donāt, i was thinking heād still submit what he has and hope for the best. The ranges (75/25th) are so small, itās hard for me to believe heād be better off not submitting if heās going into something math heavy and has the 800M SATII as well. But, what that chart shows is top schools have their pick of kids who are stellar in all areas.
So, if everyone really only submits if theyāre at or above the listed 50th%, heāll be in trouble.
But, I wonder if in previous years, the scores were higher due to multiple attempts. Maybe because so many kids will get only one attempt this year, the 50% will be lower?
@AlmostThere2018 , I think the 50% or above thing doesnāt apply once the score gets into the 1500s. I have always heard that once your score begins with 15 youāre fine and they start looking at other factors in your application. Again though, that is just what I remember hearing from multiple podcasts and articles etc over the past year and can not remember exact sources to link.
Yay! D21ās main EC is fully back in swing (outside sport, easy social distancing). One of her summer volunteer gigs is back on too (again, outside with easy social distancing). She is working on an independent research paper as well, and writing āwhy xā essays and the Common App essay. Her summer is pretty full.
D23 also has a full schedule now with planned activities and goals. So things are starting to feel back to normal.
Still donāt know what is happening for fall 2020 at the community college and the local state college where both will take courses next year.
I think this is the best approach. Pretend that colleges are not going test optional and continue to study this summer and take the ACT/SAT test(s) in September, October or November.
Also, isnāt the ACT allowing testers the option to retake only certain sections? For example, you previously scored 34s in three sections but science was a 29. You can choose just to prep for and retake the science section only in an attempt to increase your ācompositeā score. If so, this new retaking option may further increase the average score submitted to colleges.
It will be interesting to see what the availability of the ACT section retakes is when registration for September opens. The section retakes are computer based onlyā¦so far, I donāt know any schools in my immediate area (suburban, affluent) that are going to offer the section retakes.
@JanieWalker ā appreciate and understand your caveats. Weāre all operating with incomplete info ā will just be interesting to see if any conventional wisdom emerges, and I like crowdsourcing what we hear from college counselors and AOs to help guide students on whether to submit a score for TO schools as everything continues to evolve.
Agree anything 1500+/33+ should submit.
@homerdog ā I agree smaller schools the TO is easier for them to manage. Iām trying to figure out how a place like VT which gets tens of thousands of apps is going to evaluate w/o a test score, for example. Will they use GPA as a screen?