Bowdoin has done the same for years and years. It sure isn’t suffering.
@hebegebe I’m not sure what you are suggesting as an alternative. You are arguing that grades are not a perfect measure of aptitude and that may be. Some very intelligent kids may have poor GPAs for a variety of reasons. That isn’t an argument for or against a test optional admissions procedure. In fact, it argues in favor of more holistic criteria all around.
My statement that high GPA is a good predictor of success in college does not imply that kids with low GPA can’t succeed in college. “If A than B” does not mean “if not A than not B”. However I will say that demonstrating the ability to push through even in a situation where you are bored or lonely shows a great deal of merit. Its the kind of work ethic that an admissions committee would prize. We talk often here about overcoming true adversity and what a good impression that makes. Achieving in a hostile environment where you are shunned for success, where the course work is dull and where the rewards seem few is a great example of overcoming adversity.
Watch UChicago President Zimmer explain the University’s rationale to eliminate the SAT/ACT requirement:
https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/6/15/watch-zimmer-test-optional-admissions/
it seems to me that they don’t look at the score when students have disadvantage. Do not have money for tutor and prep courses for high scores.
However, if you are from top high school, a rich family, I think they do look at it. There is no more excuse if you are rich, in elite high school but get 30 in ACT
I would love to see statistics on how many students are actually admitted without submitting test scores.
Does Bowdoin provide such info?
From googling:
“Around 30 percent of matriculants (in the class of 2018) chose not to submit scores.”
https://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/apply/testing-policy.shtml
thanks. I wasn’t in a googling mood but I knew the info was out there 
^^wow, 30% is a pretty high number. Considering those 30% having a score lower than the 25-75 range I would hope UChicago would be wise enough not to let the number reach that high.
Is there any evidence that the students admitted without scores are performing at a lower level then the rest? If not, then why would it matter?
@gallentjill I don’t think you can easily measure the performance by comparing GPAs because students choose majors of varying difficulty. The logic is that applicants who do poorly are the ones who are not submitting the scores. So the 30% no score admits would be predominantly at the low end of SAT/ACT spectrum. If SAT/ACT has strong correlation with intelligence then the decline of the true average score would not be beneficial to UC’s renowned high intelligence and intellectualism among its students.
I am not saying an ACT33 kid is going to accomplish more than an ACT30 kid because there are so many other factors, but when you have 1500 of them with a lower average I imagine in aggregate there will be an appreciable effect.
This is what Bates & Bowdoin have to say
“The admissions offices at Bates and Bowdoin, two of the schools that have pioneered test-optional admissions, have been particularly outspoken on this front: They find that the students they admit who do not submit test scores are virtually indistinguishable in terms of success (defined as grades and graduation rate) from those who do submit scores; and at both schools, roughly a third of applicants are non–score submitters”.
Given what @vquit has said about the results at Bowdoin and Bates, the clear conclusion is that SAT/ACT does not have a strong correlation with ability.
@gallentjill
If success and ability are “defined as grades and graduation rate” then I imagine it would show little difference. As I mentioned before students tend to seek majors and classes they are likely to do well in. It would be more telling if the data were from students with the same classes and majors.
Even assuming that you are correct, what is the problem? Two excellent universities admit students without the benefit of test scores, presumably adding some desirable element to the campus – possibly ethnic, geographic or economic diversity or possibly just the ability to admit outstanding kids who simply present with different kinds of desirable qualifications. Those kids choose majors they like and excel at. They achieve grades and graduation rates indistinguishable from their test submitting classmates. Everyone wins.
Where is the harm? Is the problem that these kids might have chosen harder majors at different schools, so their acceptance actually harms them? Is the problem that other kids with higher test scores should have taken the spots in these majors? I assume some students were going to choose the “easier” majors. If test scores are not predictive of success, then whats the problem with abandoning them.
" As I mentioned before students tend to seek majors and classes they are likely to do well in. "
I prefer to think that students choose majors and classes that they most enjoy and are interested in, and therefore do well in those.
“it seems to me that they don’t look at the score when students have disadvantage…” i don’t know where you get that. Submit and they’ll see it.
“Considering those 30% having a score lower than the 25-75 range…” Likewise. You don’t know why a kid chose.
“The logic is that applicants who do poorly are the ones who are not submitting the scores…” if you’re answering gallentjill, are you stating kids who don’t submit do more poorly in college? Not so.
But though various studies show this or that predicts college grades, it’s not a factor the colleges fret over. They want freshman retention, graduation in the 4-6 years, are far less concerned about college gpa than you assume.
And it doesn’t matter whether some hs inflate or have different rigor. In terms of academics, you look to see how a kid strove in his or her environment. You dont get tangled in hypotheticals or supposing.
“Considering those 30% having a score lower than the 25-75 range”
I’m sure many not submitting scores fall within that range. I’m sure the top 25% have mostly submitted scores but don’t be so certain that all those in the middle of the pack did so as well.
If scores truly don’t add anything, UC could simply have said don’t bother sending scores in anymore, we won’t look at them.
With this change in policy, the applicant now has to ask, “do I want to send in my scores?” Clever. The burden has been shifted to the applicant, who has no real information about the actual admissions process or the true criteria for admission.
Why force this decision onto the student, who is flying blind here? Why doesn’t UC instead ask, “do we want to see the scores for this applicant?”
UC, which has all the information on how score data have historically correlated with its institutional goals, can simply review an individual applicant file without score data and then make a decision to (i) admit, (ii) deny or (iii) add the scores to the mix and make a final determination.
As for mechanics, UC can announce this change in policy to a two step process in which scores will initially be disregarded, and people will believe them just like they believe they superscore despite having all scores in the office. As people on here always say, score information doesn’t add much to a top applicant’s file, and I agree with that because the tests are not hard enough to distinguish among the best. So, the best students should not be deterred from applying.
We don’t know for which applicants score information might be important, but UC does, or else it would eliminate the option entirely. Forcing the applicant to make the decision to throw scores into the mix, when UC could simply ignore score information, strikes me as fundamentally unfair.
I suspect that this score optional policy is trying to maintain their 25-75 stats while admitting students with weaker scores. The applicants not submitting scores will be disproportionately from below the published 25th percentile, although of course there will be some right on up to the median I’d guess, and this will have the effect of lowering the quality of the class while maintaining the 25-75 numbers. UC always could have admitted weak score applicants on the strength of the rest of their applications, and as the published 25-75 numbers went down they would have presented a more honest range to USNWR and prospective applicants trying to gauge fit. But they want their cake and they want to eat it too.
They want exceptionally talented/capable students (particularly low SES and first gen students) who have been scared off by the high scores and high cost of UChicago to apply. It’s about changing/diversifying the applicant pool. So no, they aren’t looking for a way to covertly admit the kind of applicants they’ve been turning down. They are looking for access to a type of candidate that’s out there but who hasn’t applied because s/he assumes UChicago is out of reach.
FWIW, the 25%-75% range already obscures (and will continue to obscure) matriculants with low standardized test scores and UChicago, at least for the last several years, has routinely published the full range of scores (and been criticized for doing so, the claim being that they’re soliciting applications from kids who have no chance in hell of being admitted and it’s just a ploy to increase selectivity stats). But the various outreach programs and financial initiatives convince me that UChicago is eager to be a force for upward mobility for very smart hardworking kids who haven’t previously had access to the same kinds of educational resources as their more affluent peers. My sense is this is a national rollout of what they’ve been trying to do more locally for years.
I just want to point out that UChicago has never been a fan of these standardized exams. It has never required SAT II subject tests, though most students still submit them anyway. I don’t see going test-optional for SAT II hurting the calibre of students accepted/matriculated. Likewise, while UChicago no longer requires SAT/ACT for the vast majority of students (except students who attend high school outside the US), majority of applicants will still submit SAT scores. I don’t expect any change in admissions going forward.