Not just CA. There are very limited testing sites in WA. With most West Coast schools remaining test optional or test blind, there is not much incentive to open up more sites. It’s common for people to drive several hours to find a site- something wealthier people can do far more easily since it involves a car, gas, and likely a hotel room. It’s also still fairly common for sites to cancel at the last minute.
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I’d be curious to know if 1600 superscored is looked at the same way as 1600 in one sitting. Does anyone have concrete confirmation on this?
Don’t know why it would be. If a college says they accept a superscore, they accept a superscore. Again, it is in their interest to do so. (Not so long ago, in the paper era, the highest of each test score was marked on the outside of the Application’s folder with GPA. An admissions reader would have to go thru the file and seek out the individual CB report to see if it was one-and-done.)
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That would take the sorts of internal data and records these colleges pretty much never reveal absent litigation.
Personally, I think if a college says it happily superscores, that is likely true for the purposes of getting you past any sort of initial academic screen.
But, does that mean no admissions committee ever discusses your individual test scores? I suspect it is rare, but I would not be comfortable saying it could never happen.
GA does not provide an SAT (or ACT) school day either. I’ve often wondered how many states provide that free on a school day. Since GA publics require tests it would be nice to offer at least one test date to all students.
ETA: However, I haven’t heard of widespread issues with finding test sites like in CA.
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No reason to offer it if there is no demand.
There is likely some tech philanthropy that would help low income kids test if they wanted to do so. Maybe most do not wish to, since most kids will stay in-state or attend a UC. One might expect private schools at least to offer it, but if so few take the test, I can see why they don’t bother. Maybe that will change now
Bingo. If students want to apply to the highly selective privates, they are on their own. Most public high school counselors are just trying to keep kids in school, and beyond that help them get kids into a Cal State or UC.
Our HS Student-to-Counselor ratio was 700:1, and that was generous as it included the Vice Principal, who technically was also a Counselor, but spent 90% of his time on discipline.
Yeah, that would make sense: the private high schools could band together in a region to offer a testing day.
I guess, but I think people said before that TO benefited schools by increasing the number of applications, and now some schools are changing that. I feel that superscoring might have some of the same attributes pro and con as TO in general, except it makes families expend more resources for testing instead of less. Just wondering if it could be another things that switches – I don’t even know when superscoring became a thing or why, though. It predated COVID but I don’t know for how long.
The issue of which states use SAT/ACT as their 11th-grade test is an interesting one. All states are required to assess students in 3rd-8th and 11th grade. This dates back to the implementation of the Common Core standards in 2010. At that time, some states banded together and created the Smarter Balanced Consortium. Other states chose the SAT/ACT to fulfill the 11th-grade requirement. Contracts and money are all playing into these decisions.
CA is a part of the Smarter Balanced group and all 11th graders take that test (SBAC). So in essence, CA does give a free mastery assessment to every 11th grader. As long as UCs and CSUs remain test blind, there is no incentive for CA to switch 11th graders from the SBAC to the SAT.
This is an interesting publication from 2019 from the Smarter Balanced Consortium comparing the Smarter Balanced test to the SAT regarding future college success. It’s kind of outdated, but I’ll let the data nerds debate the details! https://edpolicyinca.org/sites/default/files/R_Kurlaender_Mar-2019.pdf
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All this has made me start to think of the kids going to the Bowdoin, Vassar type schools - are they all truly at the same level as those who go to schools that require a test.
I’m sure many aren’t - and maybe they wanted to go to a different school - but this was a way to skate by?
You can’t tell from the last few years but many LACs have long been test optional.
It just seems to me that someone who goes to an optional school (not blind) who doesn’t submit a test - there has to be at least some level of - they are not as qualified as others.
On the flip side, if these “elite” LACs and others required tests, their applicant levels would likely drop.
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interesting that both Bowdoin and Hamilton do not (and have not for many years) require standardized tests for admission, but if you take the test and are enrolling you must submit.
That seems an easy solution. The test-required colleges all have experience with different types of tests from all over the world, like the Abitur. Just include this test as an acceptable alternative
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Yes - but it didn’t impact your admission. It’s for data aggregation.
In general, if a school is TO and you don’t submit, there’s a reason - and it’ s unlikely except in the covid years - that it’s access related. People will say affordability - but I’m not buying it.
But to each his own.
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Well, that is like asking if the entire student body at UC/CSU are truly on the same level…
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In some ways but not exactly as they are blind.
But if they were optional yes - and I do wonder, how many are truly qualified - plus when they have the top x % of the school (for UC 9% I think) - because 9% at one school may be less ready than 40% at another. Texas and others have this. My state is about to start although we require the test.
I personally don’t like TO or test blind - but individual schools are allowed to set their policies as they wish. And I acknowledge that.
They are also allowed to accept who they wish - and I acknowledge that too.
Here is the 2021 report from the UC study group that was (apparently) formed to consider the question of whether to use the SBAC in UC admissions. They recommended against using the SBAC. https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov21/b3attach2.pdf
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Sorry, just a slow day day work. Not to be argumentative, but there are schools where people self select into (TO, test blind) for whatever reason.
High GPA, bad test score; too lazy to study or just don’t want to.
But I think we all agree that if someone wants to go to a specific school, they need to meet the requirements. if my D27 wants to go to a school that wants a test score, I guess she is spending the summer studying.
Believe it or not, there are still kids who take the SAT’s after an hour of reviewing the test format and two hours with one of the commercially available books. I cannot fathom spending a summer on text prep. You don’t need to buy in to the “test prep industrial complex” insanity.
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I 100% agree. I’m guessing - but don’t know - that there are kids who will apply to Bowdoin, Vassar, etc - that would also apply to Harvard/Yale if they had the test score but won’t because they don’t. I’m guessing this happened pre-covid and will happen again going forward.
That’s been moot the last few years but is about to be the situation again.
Just like someone may apply to an Alabama or Mississippi State because a score isn’t needed instead of TN or Florida because their score is required but isn’t at the level needed.
So I agree that many will self select based on what they bring - or don’t bring to the table.
And it’s my belief schools going back to required will have a higher caliber of student. Perhaps not as diverse a group but statistically a higher caliber group.
And I think these schools that have been long TO - have sorted been given a free pass reputationally because I’m guessing many of their students statistically wouldn’t have made it at the test required equal pedigree school.
Doesn’t mean I’m right - but it is what I believe.
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Which is probably why Smarter Balanced didn’t include that updated study on their website! They only have the 2019 one. Picking and choosing the data they like.
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