SAT Optional Schools

MarathonMan88
Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:57:44 +0000

With a few exceptions, SAT-optional schools require standardized test scores from merit scholarship applicants. Although few schools talk about their preferential packaging of FA offers, it’s also pretty safe to assume that most schools that preferential package the amount of grant for top academic admits look at test scores for that purpose.



I suppose that most applicants not submitting scores are not doing so because their scores are in the below average range in at least one section.



I have a slightly different take on this than sybbie, FWIW. The Bates and Mount Holyoke studies confirm that the differences in scores between submitters and non-submitters are substantial. The positive results that SAT-optional schools report are for a relatively small and carefully selected group of non-submitting students: those who were admitted. These students perform nearly as well as their classmates, but it’s because the adcoms have carefully identified off-setting strengths. The Hamilton quote is a telling one: “many who rank in the top 5 percent of their high school class.”

I think that the selective SAT-optional schools can and do do a wonderful job of identifying non-submitting students who will succeed at their institutions, and that SAT-optional is a great option for some students. But I also think that the selective schools begin by attributing lower scores to non-submitting students, even though few are upfront about it, and that these students should go into the process with eyes open.