It seems to me that schools are now starting to shift away from the idea that if you don’t submit a test, it was most likely because you could not take it to if you don’t take the test you were not happy with your score. Colleges know that almost all college-bound students now have the chance again to take the tests and they are making it challenging to get in test optional because of this.
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Without writing a long essay style comment here, my thoughts are:
- for certain majors, your chances of acceptance increases if you supply test scores
- for certain large public schools or private schools (Penn State) that primarily look at grades test scores, going test optional hurts you although they do take test optional students, they are way more critical of your application.
Don’t get me wrong I am pro test optional as kids have anxiety, disorders such as ADD or ADHD where taking standardized tests for them is hard and not necessarily indicative of their academic standing as some are high stat kids just not good at standardized test taking.
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I guess the problem now is that nothing below a 34 on the ACT is decent!
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School dependent.
At UMD, if we’re still on UMD, that wouldn’t be a correct statement.
As a reminder, that is - I think the 98th percentile.
Although this thread spun off from that UMD applicant’s thread - this thread is not specific to any school.
What % of all applications are from TO students? What % of students are applying TO?
As of the latest table, a 34 is 99th percentile. Even more to your point.
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Schools that were on the earlier side of adopting this policy would say " if you feel that your test scores do not represent who you are as a student, don’t submit them." They would go on to say “We will evaluate you based on what you submit.” This assumed that students had indeed tested but had achieved scores that were not representative of their ability. Some schools had “test choice”, so if you had great SAT subject tests, for example, you could submit those in lieu of a regular SAT.
While many more schools are TO now, I feel like the “old” policy is in principle how most operate. If you can submit a stellar application that provides the AOs with info that you can thrive at their school, you’re fine. But if you apply TO for a program that will require quantitative skills, you’re going to need some things on that application that signal that you’re going to be up to snuff on that front. An AIME finalist would likely be fine without scores. A kid with As in math, however, might not cut it.
My hunch is that a decent student from a decent school is probably better off with scores than without at most schools, barring something extraordinary on the application that either makes them compelling or corroborates academic strength.
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Exactly, it’s hard that for many schools now anything below the 98th percentile is subpar!
From the most recent common app deadline update p 17/18:
Trends in applicants’ test score reporting behaviors:
As reported in the past, the share of Common App members requiring standardized test scores since 2019–20 has changed dramatically — from about 55% to just 5% in 2021–22. This season, just 4% of members require a test score to submit an application. In Figure 19, we show that the number of applicants reporting and not reporting a test score has been diverging since 2021, with slightly more students choosing not to report than to report for the first time since major testing accessibility disruptions in the 2020–21 season. Growth is meaningfully faster over the past year for students not reporting test scores, indicating that this dynamic may accelerate going forward. More students are not reporting test scores than reporting this year, and we will continue to monitor this trend throughout the application season.
mwfan again: Note Common app does not have 100% of the app volume. Maybe 70%? Notable common app exceptions (in terms of app volume) would be the UCs, and CSUs which are need blind. Most community colleges are also not on common app, generally don’t require test scores either.
Right. In other words, if there’s external validation from a nationally reliable source, then that’s fine.
So answering my own OP, my view is: test optional is “optional” in context. Not truly optional for everyone in all situations.
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A 34 is basically not an eliminator anywhere.
At some it will be par.
But no one is getting rejected for a 34…if someone is, you can count the # of schools on one hand.
Maybe based on sub scores, etc - perhaps.
I fully believe a TO student at many schools is at a disadvantage. Few show TO acceptance rates vs. submitters but those that do - having a test helps!
Having a 34 at a handful of schools may not help - but it certainly won’t hurt.
I think people are getting a bit into fantasy land with some of this.
If UMD range is 31-34, as an example, that means 25% of people have below a 31. You’ll have 26s and 28s mixed in there, etc.
Too many are confusing test optional with not being disadvantaged - and I think that’s the disconnect.
You can be test optional and because of it - be disadvantaged.
The school’s should say that or show data of test submitters and without - but instead they say it won’t hurt - and that’s wherein the issue lies - for many it will - especially borderline kids.
Look at U Wash - test blind - unless you are borderline. Then they’ll use the test to validate.
Others might be doing similarly without saying so.
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Many schools now list 34 as their 50th percentile and the general advice is not to submit a test score below the 50th percentile.
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Agree. Here is the data from Washington and Lee’s class of 2027:
Only 42% of the applicants submitted scores, but 59% of the accepted students had scores.
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That’s “some peoples” advice - I wouldn’t say general.
In context at a select set of schools which tend to be relatively more selective (and then not all of them). The lack of transparency on the part of some test optional colleges is what makes things difficult for students/parents and counselors.
And then, even when schools are transparent some people don’t listen….for example Purdue and Auburn get plenty of TO applicants, it’s as if people don’t read the websites. Georgetown received a lot of TO apps in 2021 and 2022 when they were never test optional and were pretty clear about that on their website.
The good thing is none of this is an issue at the majority of schools that accept the majority of applicants.
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Yes that’s true.
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We visited nearly two dozen schools in person, including some with single digit acceptance rates. Every one of them is TO and every single AO said in very clear terms that there is no disadvantage to applicants who do not submit test scores. I know some schools don’t say that as adamantly but every school presentation we attended emphasized this point.
I don’t really believe that, but they all said it. So when you say parents are “confusing” test optional with not being disadvantaged, I would say it may not be parent confusion. Every Admissions Officer at every school presentation we attended said this explicitly. But, I don’t fully believe it.
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Fair
Keep in mind, this graph could represent that the those that submitted TO also had lower GPAs, worse essays, etc. One cannot conclude that TO is the driver. You would need to control for other factors, such as GPA in the model to conclude this.
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