More schools ditching test optional admissions

[EKS]

Thank goodness.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/standarized-testing-requirements-act-sat/677667/

[DawnM]

I am all for disadvantaged receiving more assistance, but we sure were glad when my boys' test scores didn't matter.   They both had over 4.0 (weighted) GPAs in our local high achieving public high school.   But neither tested all that well.   They did ok, but not stellar.   

[teachermom2834]

I guess I’m comfortable with some schools being test optional and some not. I don’t like the idea of all or nothing. I understand that the tests don’t reflect how well some really hard working smart students who don’t test particularly well will do in college. 
 

But I’m really glad our state schools use testing for scholarships. At my dd’s school 1/4 of the class is on the A honor roll and another 1/4 is on the A/B honor roll. They don’t rank students. My dd’s 3rd quarter report card has six 100s and two 99s in mostly AP/honors classes. Some of her classmates will have all low nineties that they have availed themselves of all kinds of teacher mercy and extra credit to get. When they apply to college their transcript will look exactly the same- all As. There has to be a way to differentiate because there is a difference in caliber of the two students that seems fair to recognize. Sure enough when they do testing my dd does test much higher than student B with the lower numerical grades. 
 

Student B will probably be successful in college and I have no problem with some colleges putting her on equal footing with my dd. But I am glad my dd can apply to some colleges that recognize that her ACT is 12 points higher and that actually isn’t just a fluke of testing. 
 

 

[SKL]

It's a mixed bag.  I was a good tester, so I guess I would have loved for my test scores to matter.  My bright daughter is not a good tester, and she also has been suffering from a series of concussions from age 15-17, making things even worse.  Test optional would be nice for her.

The tone of these types of discussions tend to be, "this is better for me / my kids, therefore this is better."  It's much less clear what's best overall.

Mostly, I think the highly selective, expensive college biz is ridiculous.  Other than degrees in which high math / science prowess directly impacts one's future career, the rest of it is BS IMO.

[EKS]

I think that if schools are going to be test optional they should also be grades optional.  I was a beneficiary of what was essentially a grades optional policy at the University of California back in the day.  If you scored at a certain level on the SAT and two subject tests (or maybe it was three), you could get in even if your high school grades were abysmal.  I went on to be successful student in a challenging major.  Now UC won't look at test scores at all, against the recommendation of their own committee.  It's ridiculous.

I also think we should stop thinking about admission to a particular college as being a reward for hard work.  It should be about who is going to be a good fit with the college's intellectual community, who will actually contribute something meaningful.  Hard work is only part of the equation, and perhaps not the most important part.

I'm saying this as a person who has just spent three years working very hard to get a math degree.  That I have had to work as hard as I have to do well is honestly a sign that I don't belong at a top school (and I am not at a top school).  But looking at my transcript you wouldn't know this.  You'd just see a string of A+s.

[TravelingChris]

1 hour ago, SKL said:

It's a mixed bag.  I was a good tester, so I guess I would have loved for my test scores to matter.  My bright daughter is not a good tester, and she also has been suffering from a series of concussions from age 15-17, making things even worse.  Test optional would be nice for her.

The tone of these types of discussions tend to be, "this is better for me / my kids, therefore this is better."  It's much less clear what's best overall.

Mostly, I think the highly selective, expensive college biz is ridiculous.  Other than degrees in which high math / science prowess directly impacts one's future career, the rest of it is BS IMO.

Economics too

[TravelingChris]

Just now, TravelingChris said:

Economics too

Because I have been super surprised how much bad economics is being taught out there.

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, EKS said:

I think that if schools are going to be test optional they should also be grades optional.  I was a beneficiary of what was essentially a grades optional policy at the University of California back in the day.  If you scored at a certain level on the SAT and two subject tests (or maybe it was three), you could get in even if your high school grades were abysmal.  I went on to be successful student in a challenging major.  Now UC won't look at test scores at all, against the recommendation of their own committee.  It's ridiculous.

That makes sense.