Hey guys! I am an international student from Russia and I’m applying to these school for FA: Exeter, Andover, Choate, Mercersburg, St. Paul’s, NMH, Blair, Berkshire, Wayland, Loomis Chaffee, Governor’s and St Stephen’s.
And I noticed that most of the schools I apply to are test-optional. Admission officers and websites say that you will not be disadvantaged by not submitting your test scores. However, I am in a very competitive pool and I worry if It’s true. Because not taking ISEE would allow me to focus more on essays and other parts of application.
I think I will get around 85%(or even more) on ISEE if I will take it. And I did not complete my essays too.
What do you think? Is it true or I should take my ISEE test?
If the school says they are test optional, believe them.
If you were sitting on a high score already, there would be no reason not to submit it. But if you are worried that you will have to significantly prep to get a score high enough that you’d like to submit to schools, I would agree with you that your time is better spent on the other parts of your application.
BTW, I like the balanced list of schools you have there!
There are some nuances. Like, Mercersburg is test-optional for admissions, but you need to submit tests if you want consideration for merit scholarships (I just happen to know that because our daughter is planning to apply).
Imo, when a school is test optional, it is relying on the other parts of the application to determine how prepared an applicant is, so you need to ask how easily they can do that. If they have familiarity with your middle school or a program you have been selected for, for example, the test may add little.
My guess is that as a foreign applicant, it could be very helpful to have a strong standardized test score to show proficiency in English and to back up a transcript which may be harder for the reader to place. You are in a competitive pool as an international applicant AND one seeking FA, so I would make it as easy as possible for an AO to determine that you haveall the attributes of a great admit.
Take a look at the SSAT as well. Most students do not invest tons of time in test prep, so this may also not be the burden you are assuming it will be.
For what it is worth, in our private K-8, it is recommended you at least try out taking the SSAT (our preferred test). You can always not submit at TO schools if you don’t like your score, but maybe you will do well!
Thanks for advice, I took practice ISEE test few days ago and got 95%+ on Quant&Math part, but 70% on reading and 60% on verbal, so I should focus on these parts more
Excellent plan! Please don’t stress too much about the test or any one particular part of the admissions process. Just put together the best package you can submit to schools (while also being a good student and kid at home) and trust the process. Good luck this cycle!
For what it’s worth, my child had two specific experiences with this six years ago when applying. At the time, all schools he applied to were test optional.
An AO recommended my child share their SSAT score with him before submitting in order to get feedback. My child scored high, so the feedback was to submit.
An AO indicated to our family that SSAT scores help, even when a little lower than the reported averages, in cases where the admissions team is unfamiliar with the student’s current school.
Elsewhere, people have suggested admissions committees view the SSAT’s writing sample as important because it represents the only piece of writing in an application that would not have a chance of being adult (or AI) assisted.
I would agree that Aldar should take the tests and submit them if the tests will help his application, but I would advise him to maintain low expectations in terms of “generous financial aid”. FA isn’t that common for international students, so I wouldn’t want him to take the test with the expectation that generous aid would come as a result. Simply put, test-taking is a necessary path for FA, but taking the test doesn’t guarantee FA.
Not sure who I was back and forth with on this in another thread, but at least two of the places on his list don’t treat international applications differently from a Financial Aid perspective, which I confirmed with the Head of Admissions at one of them.
Now, he could have been feeding me a line, though I don’t know why he would. Bigger problem I would say is, good luck getting into those places.