EKT Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Hello! One more follow-up question about college admissions. My 11th-grader is signed up for two SAT dates: May and June. As we've been researching prospective schools, it's become clear that ALL of the prospective schools on her list--the state flagship (OSU) and a host of art schools--are all test-optional. She is also currently doing lots of DE at the local cc, and did not need an SAT score for that. All that to say: I'm beginning to wonder why we are spending valuable time prepping for the SAT? (We could be spending this time on Algebra II, her art portfolio, and all her other courses....) Is there a reason to take the SAT anyway that I'm not considering? (I expect that she would crush the language arts section and perform just average on the math section.) We are both on board with doing whatever is best for her future goals, but I'm honestly really struggling to see the point. Please advise! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) I'd have her take it you think she'd qualify for scholarships based on her scores. Even if admission is test-optional, test scores could be beneficial or even required for scholarships. ETA - 3 of my kids are OSU graduates and all got scholarships based on their test scores, but that was a while ago. From OSU: We recommend applicants take the ACT or SAT and submit test scores if they are available, as we believe that standardized test scores provide useful information and predictive value about a student’s potential for success at Ohio State. https://undergrad.osu.edu/students-preparing-to-apply#test-optional-faqs Edited January 24 by Kassia 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) Check scholarship requirements. Some schools have scholarships that are awarded on the basis of test scores. Other schools might require test scores to be admitted to the specific school within the university, even if students can be admitted test optional as undecided majors. (Indiana University-Bloomington is one example.) And is there zero chance the college list could change? There are still some test required schools (including all Georgia public schools). Based on the data schools have been collecting, test optional may become less common in the future. FTR, my current senior's list wasn't finalized until late October, which would have been too late for squeezing in a test. But our plan all along was for her to apply with test scores, especially since our DE options were limited, so she took the PSAT, SAT twice, and ACT once, all during junior year. She did very little prep: just some Khan Academy SAT prep and she took the officially released tests as practice. (In solidarity, one Saturday morning I took a practice ACT with her! 😜) Edited January 24 by jplain 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Merit scholarships. Even a school that is test optional needs to evaluate the student's academic performance through some measures, usually a fuzzy "holistic" view of the application. A high SAT score is a good hard data point that can help. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 Also, SAT prep doesn't have to take a ton of time. Work through test prep book, take the published practice tests, done. The main prep has already been done through tha academic work in the preceding years. All they need is to familiarize themselves with the style of the questions. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I don't think test optional will be the norm in the long run. (Pessimistic, that's me.) Also, some schools near us are officially test optional, but require tests from homeschoolers. So I guess I would need to be absolutely sure about that policy before I passed up the test dates. I.kniw what you mean about the time, though. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 16 minutes ago, regentrude said: Merit scholarships. Even a school that is test optional needs to evaluate the student's academic performance through some measures, usually a fuzzy "holistic" view of the application. A high SAT score is a good hard data point that can help. Exactly. My kids got great merit scholarships ( high stat kids at not highly competitive schools.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 I’d take it. You don’t have to send them automatically, you can wait til you have results to decide. Agree about merit scholarships. My Dd has over half her tuition covered, and 9 credits (3 gen ed courses she placed out of) as an incoming freshman bc of her scores. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKT Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Okay, fiiiiine! lol. Thank you for your input; I appreciate it! We will jump through this hoop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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