Test-Optional through 2023…

As I build lists for my 2024 grads, I’ve been for waiting for the verdict on test score requirements, particularly from colleges that did three year pilot programs beginning in 2020. While most colleges are test optional and likely will remain that way, we don’t know for sure when the policy isn’t stated on their websites. It’s likely that colleges will not reveal policies until the new year. That throws yet another stressful “unknown” into list building.

I have a few students who do not plan to take a standardized test. Do they really have to worry about this? Well over 1000 colleges, including some of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the US, became test-optional long before the pandemic. There are reams of studies on whether test results are an accurate predictor of college success, and the belief of the education community at large is that they are not. So there are plenty of schools for students to apply to…it’s just that they may have their hearts set on schools which may end their test-optional policies.

Students who choose to test also face some difficult choices. Since nearly every college except for the Florida and Georgia publics, Georgetown, MIT, and the University of Tennessee became test-optional, submitted test scores have skewed higher. I feel badly advising students to not submit SAT scores in the 1400’s, but when I know that these scores are below a college’s 50% percentile, those scores will not help their odds of admission. We strategize, school by school, on where to submit, and where not.

I look forward to getting some answers. Which colleges will return to requiring test scores and which will remain test optional? When I find out, I’ll spread the word.

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My hope for our students

Two weeks ago, my blogpost focused on how the critical thinking skills honed by reading and other forms of media are crucial for student–and human–development. I am quoting below from a college president who shares my views about the point of education. College is not, and has never been, merely vocational in nature.

“The rhetoric emanating from political and corporate sectors is that we should be more about jobs and less about ideas — that we need fewer great thinkers and more skilled technicians. PayScale cannot measure the worth of those who mount barricades to demand equity and justice; the College Scorecard ignores the ROI in the common good of our graduates who choose public service over private corporate gain.”

While I don’t discourage students going to work in the private sector, I emphatically agree with this. While some fear the day that “AI takes over,” I’d like to encourage our students to be less mechanical and to embrace what makes them human as well as develop technical expertise. The ability to think, reason and consider the well-being of others (not merely for personal gain) in our actions is what truly holds society together.

Let’s help students become both technically competent as well as prepared to discuss and question the meaning of what they read, view, or comment on. Real issues impact real lives and demand thoughtful discourse. I hope that all of my students’ lives are enriched by more than their careers–after all, they’ll be in charge soon. (Maxwell Frost just became the first Gen Z member of Congress at age 25.)

What’s fair?

Angel Pérez, President of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, supports affirmative action:

“Admission officers are often criticized for not doing more to admit low-income, first-generation students of color. And now, they face the possibility that the Court will remove their ability to use race in the holistic review of a candidate. To do so would be a leap backward. It threatens to impose blinders on American colleges and universities to the abundant racial injustices in our society and in our educational systems.”

He refers to the first part of the Affirmative Action question (explained by Columbia law professor Johnson in the podcast below). While I heard the Supreme Court argument, I remembered this MIT case study I shared last year.

•Valedictorian, private high school in suburban Colorado • Perfect testing-18 AP courses, all scores of 5, AP Spanish 4 • Took AP Calculus BC as a freshman (score of 5) • Chemistry teacher wrote glowing rec: “Best student in 25 years.” • Conducted research in Finland over the summer • Received additional evaluation from the Finland professor• Applying to major in chemistry, electrical engineering or energy technology • Conducted energy research at a local university • Co-founded an app development company; received some venture funding • Academic all-state in tennis in Colorado • ISEF – made it to the finalist level. Received grand award in Chemical Energy (21 categories—got the top award in his category) • MIT alumni interviewer raved about him.

There were so many extracurriculars that I omitted several. Some of my colleagues were angry, saying, “What more can a student do?”

What’s fair?

Another student, equally academically impressive, was a first-generation, inner-city resident who attended a public school that offered few AP courses. He did not have access to opportunities like conducting research in Finland, but exhibited academic curiosity by asking his physics teacher to help him conduct research. Along with “inquisitiveness,” he exhibited “compassion.” For elite colleges, that means creating/participating in projects that better the lives of others at the non-profit or professional level. He did this in his neighborhood.

Admissions reps say it best: don’t expect the admissions process to be fair. Colleges with single digit admit rates deny nearly all students, regardless of family income or legacy. Most admitted applicants with economic privilege (the MIT-denied student above was admitted to three Ivy League colleges, among others) will go on to enjoy great success. Applicants who are academically-gifted, but economically-challenged, have fewer chances. They know, like we all do, that life is not always “fair.”

https://the1a.org/segments/the-supreme-court-defining-diversity-and-the-future-of-affirmative-action/