The days of optional SAT scores may be coming to an end

Are standardized tests ready to make a comeback?

Dartmouth College announced this week that it is reinstating the requirement for applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. This is a requirement that the university and hundreds of other U.S. schools have eliminated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite celebrations from some students and academics when the school eliminated required SAT scores, Dartmouth College revealed after an internal investigation that those scores actually accounted for the highest entering class. It says it has been shown to be useful for building.

Experts disagree on whether the Ivy League membership decision could have a domino effect on other elite institutions and whether these scores are a good indicator for student admission. ing. Critics argue that requiring scores gives an advantage to students who already have scores.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgetown University also reinstated testing requirements.

Allen Coe, founder and CEO of Cardinal Education, believes there will be a “gradual” move to requiring test scores again.

“Given all the fairness reasons why testing was made optional, frankly many of these institutions cannot reopen immediately,” Coe said.

“It will take time, but I believe the overall trend over the next few years will be towards more schools,” he added.

As Dartmouth College said in a statement, many schools turned to test score optional during the pandemic because it was difficult for students to get to test centers in the midst of COVID-19.

The university said that after an internal review, “a holistic admissions approach that identifies the most promising students, regardless of their background, benefits from careful consideration of testing information as part of the application package.” ‘It turned out that this was the case.

“Specifically, the SAT/ACT is particularly useful in identifying students from under-resourced backgrounds who would be successful at Dartmouth but might otherwise be missed in any exam-optional setting. ” said the statement.

However, some experts are skeptical about the research results and the value of standardized tests for university entrance exams in general.

SAT scores are “notorious for predicting student success and a student’s chances in college,” said Joseph Durand, an admissions consultant at Quad Education Group.

“It is well known at this point that GPA is a five-fold, at least five-fold better predictor of student success and student potential when it comes to college and post-college success,” Durand said. Ta.

Fair Test, an organization dedicated to fair evaluation of schools and students, reports that more than 2,000 U.S. colleges are test-optional or no-test for SAT or ACT scores.

“I hope others don’t follow suit. [Dartmouth] But, you know, other institutions that call themselves elite institutions can do that, too,” said Harry Feder, executive director of Fair Testing.

Experts who oppose mandatory test scores argue that the tests only benefit wealthy students who can take them multiple times, and that waiving results at the time of admission makes the process more fair.

“All the studies that have looked at this policy over the past 20 years show that it steadily increases the number of applicants from disadvantaged and marginalized students,” Feder said. He talked about selective schools.

However, some argue that displaying scores gives an advantage even in test-optional situations, and many admissions officers prefer to see standardized test results on applications.

“The reality is that all admissions officers admit this off the record, but only some admissions officers admit it on the record—the reality is that test scores, even if optional, “It was considered,” Mr Koh said, insisting “it’s true” the test was optional. This creates a disability for many students. ”

“Believe it or not, rich kids and poor kids don’t compete with each other when it comes to getting into elite colleges. Rich kids compete with rich kids. Poor kids. are competing with poorer children,” said Mr Koh. “So when kids decline a test, they’re putting themselves at a disadvantage against their similarly situated peers. And that’s a bigger injustice.”

A third option, which is less common in higher education, is test-free admission. This admission does not even allow you to submit standardized test scores on your application.

The biggest example of a test-free school is the University of California system, which announced it would neither return to test-optional nor require testing in 2021.

“In other words, [the University of California] Coe said he intended to invest $1 billion to develop its own version of standardized tests, but said that effort has ended. “So they seem happy that the test is optional. But most other state schools have had test scores mandated for quite some time, especially since fellowships, especially a lot of schools, are driven by scores.” I have been exposed to it.”