The Pitfalls of Going Test-Optional in the College Admission Process
The throes of the college admission process leaves few unscathed; and many, to a fault, might resort to coddling or wishful thinking to placate their fears. Indeed, the process is known to spur bouts of anxiety for parents and students alike, and the subject of test-taking is doubtlessly at the top of many peoples’ minds. “Going test optional is fine!” parrots many a parent of a struggling test-taker, under thinly-veiled unease. “One test does not define my daughter,” protests another adamant parent, preaching to the choir of those who have found themselves similarly challenged by the testing process. Test-optional appears like a panacea, when a closer examination, however, reveals it oftentimes places a student at a disadvantage based on empirical data.
Why have colleges decided to go test-optional in the first place? Indeed, the original emphasis, in the early 2000s, was to encourage diversity on college campuses, in response to wealthy peoples’ marked advantage when it comes to standardized testing. Indeed, its original aim was met with only a modicum of success, as a recent study published in the American Educational Research Journal in April of 2021 found that, among over a hundred colleges, test-optional admissions led to increased matriculation among underrepresented groups by only 1%, between 2005-06 and 2015-16.
In the midst of a global pandemic, schools were forced to accommodate testing sites’ closures, and test-optional expanded to most reputable universities. However, another important factor on universities’ minds is, no doubt, their rankings on such sites as US News and World Report. An important factor for these rankings is their students’ standardized testing scores. For the entering Class of 2022, the Ivy League saw massive increases in the volume of applications, with Columbia up a whopping 51% alongside Harvard at 42%. The school’s decision to go test-optional makes it easier for students to apply and, subsequently, leads to this higher ranking. In other words, it’s in these universities’ best interest to make the school’s application process as accessible as possible, to increase their ranking, and, as a byproduct, increase their enrollment as families use these rankings to determine their children’s matriculation. To that point, for the ranking on US News, schools are actively discouraged from admitting too many test-optional students, more than 25%, which you can read more about here. It appears, from our data, that many schools make their best efforts to not exceed this range, so as to penalize them in the college rankings.
This begs the question: Who should go test-optional? Based on our scalped data of past accepted students, if your score rests at, or above, the median of previously-accepted students at the institution, then you will a large amount of benefit from sending exam results. For example, Dartmouth has a median SAT score between 1440 and 1560, with an average of 1500. However, hang on a minute. Does this mean that you shouldn’t submit scores lower than the median? The data suggests that this is not always the case: According to data collected by CollegeVine, “students who applied to a test-optional school who submitted scores above the 25th percentile were accepted at roughly two times the rate of students who applied without submitting scores (this is for students with similar profiles otherwise)” and “even students who submitted scores below the 25th percentile were accepted at a rate 1.25 times that of students who did not submit test scores." To parents, this means: Submitting scores that are less than a college’s median, or even well-below, is oftentimes better than not submitting any scores at all. If your son or daughter has low testing scores, do not immediately assume that going test-optional is the best option! The merits of testing for assessing students’ college performance is oft-debated, yet is an undeniable important part of the puzzle that gives admission officers wider context into a student’s academic strengths beyond the confines of one’s high school, with its own idiosyncrasies.
Those who belong to underrepresented minority groups face an easier time going test-optional compared to someone who is socio-economically or racially advantaged; however, if you do fall within these historically disadvantaged groups, then don’t let your hair down yet: Underrepresented minorities or low-income students with scores that meet schools’ medians can have an edge on their competition, as this is the group that is, along with athletes, most commonly test-optional.
Examining the publicly-available data on admissions websites seems to support the idea that going test-optional should only be a last-resort, that does, in fact, lend itself to a disadvantage depending on a student’s unique circumstances. For example, at the University of Virginia, as per the admissions website, 42% of applicants applicants applied test-optional, yet of those accepted, 72% included test scores in their application. Similarly, at the University of Pennsylvania, and its process for Early Decision, 38% of applicants went test-optional, yet of those accepted, 76% included test scores. This parallels other schools’ data points to varying degrees, as some were more forgiving: At Brown University, 58% of accepted students included test scores. Meanwhile, at Georgetown, for Early Action, students who went test-optional were admitted at a rate of 7.34% as compared to its acceptance rate of 10.1%. This common discrepancy lends itself to an obvious conclusion, that test-optional students are at some advantage, and at some places more than others. Indeed, it must be the responsibility of the applicant, to determine the best course of action for a particular school.
Admissions companies’ client data is useful for better understanding the testing landscape, such as Tex Admissions. According to three years of client data among students applying for McCombs School of Business, an undergraduate business program at UT-Austin, “42 out of 56 gained admission (75%) including nine for Canfield Business Honors Program. Four gained admission on appeal. Two test-optional McCombs clients gained admission.” In other words, out of 56 applicants who gained admission, only two were test-optional. Granted, this included data from before the pandemic, yet the message resounds all the same, that admission officers have some form of preference for candidates with testing history on their application.
The conversation among college counselors and experts seems to be similar: Submitting scores is usually the right decision, especially if those scores are at, or above, a school’s median. However, from the data available, we built on to this conclusion: that even scores in the twenty-fifth percentile should be submitted, as the data seems to paint a similar picture, that colleges prefer students with testing history as part of their application. Lastly, students who are underrepresented, or have some sort of hook, will not be as disadvantaged in the process by going test-optional; however, for the unhooked, the best decision is, in most cases, to submit your scores.
To discuss this topic in greater depth, or book a free consultation to help you on your college admission journey, then feel free to find a time on our calendar below.
