Several of my son’s reach schools say act with writing and sat subject tests are optional and not required. However, these are competitive schools with average act @32 and @ gpa 4.2. At schools like this is there an unwritten expectation that they should be provided? Is everyone else providing and it would be glaring omission if my son didn’t provide? Especially for the ACT writing?
Optional anything is really only optional for students who would struggle to pay fees for extra tests, or for kids from disadvantaged or under-represented populations. If it’s recommend or optional, and your child is an ORM, not from a rural school in North Dakota, or doesn’t have some compelling reason for being unable to do subject tests and the like, it’s not really optional.
Likewise optional essay questions are one certain way to “show interest”. If you can’t bother to write them, do you really want to go to that school?
I am going to disagree I honestly feel the writing section of the ACT is optional if the school says it is optional.
Just to clarify, I’m not referring to optional essays on the application, but rather to writing portion of standardized tests, such as SAT Writing, ACT writing, or ACT Subject tests. These are additional tests beside the standard critical reading, math, etc.
One of the responses above seemed to be related to the essay on app. Thx!
I still wonder about those SAT 2s and the difference between “recommended” and “considered”. I think recommended means you need to do them. We have schools on S19’s list that say “considered”. Since he will have AP test scores in every subject that has an SAT 2, I’m thinking he could skip them for most of these schools. For the schools with very low admission percentages though, I think every data point matters so he may just go ahead and take them so he has them for his reaches.
I would suggest going back to @Lindagaf 's explanation above, with which I agree. If you know about the tests and taking them is not a hardship, I really can’t think of a reason for not taking them if any of the colleges on one’s list will at least consider them. Why would one not want to put forth the strongest application possible?
I’m thinking he can’t, unless the “excuses” above apply. AP scores carry little to no weight in the admissions process. Colleges are not asking anyone to read tea leaves, so unless a college specifically says that X can be used in lieu of Y, assume that it cannot.
If you’re applying to elite schools like Harvard or Duke and they say a test is recommended, it is not optional. If the cost is burdensome, you can get a fee waiver, but by all means, take the test.
An instance where it may not benefit the student in submitting an SAT Subject test to a college which “recommends” or “considers” them, is if the scores are so subpar relative to other applicants that it would not place the student in a positive light. And I would think that would be on an AO’s mind if a student did not submit SAT Subject test scores and they don’t fit in the categories that @Lindagaf has outlined above.
“Recommended” should be taken to mean that a student from a non-disadvantaged situation should do it, but the college is leaving itself the possibility of admitting a student from a disadvantaged situation who may not have had the opportunity to do it (e.g. may not have heard about SAT subject tests until it was too late because no one else at his/her high school ever applied to a college that wanted SAT subject tests so the counselors and teachers never mentioned them).
@skieurope I’ve been on other forums discussing this topic before. The reason he would not take them is that he’s bogged down with a super heavy schedule with his ECs and his class load. Hardly time in the week to recharge let alone study for more tests. Plus, his counselors tell us that kids get accepted to the schools on his list from our high schools without taking SAT 2s. I really think it depends on the college. Bowdoin (for example) is test optional and all of the kids who have been accepted from our high school only sent SATs - no SAT 2s. Same with Carleton. Kids have not taken SAT 2s. Obviously, schools that “recommend” them are a different story.
Ideally, sure, S19 would take SAT 2s. He may still do it. He’s taking BC Calc right now, though, so he may be rusty for Math 2. And his APUSH teacher told the kids that the AP is different than the SAT 2 History test. the SAT 2 requires more factual knowledge and the kids will want to study a bit over and above what they do in APUSH. Not sure it’s worth it. Last year, his GC told him to put all of his effort into his grades since they are the most important. It paid off with a bang. If he had been studying for SAT 2 Math and SAT 2 Chem, I’m not sure he would have pulled off the grades he did.
If he is doing well in calculus now, he is probably getting continual practice in the lower level math that is tested on the math level 2 SAT subject test, so it should not require much studying.
There are some views here that I do agree with, in terms of some colleges really do mean optional. I am guessing the OP is talking about tippy top schools, in which case I do not feel that optional is really optional, except as I initially mentioned. For a school with, say, a 60% acceptance rate, yes, optional is probably optional. Not optional at a school with an average ACT of 32, in all likelihood.
At test-optional schools, optional is a grayer area, but I still think it’s better to submit optional stuff than not.
Think I win a prize for using the word “optional” more than anyone else!
It really depends on the competitiveness of the school and the applicants. There was a report from years ago that around 95% of students admitted by Stanford did submit the subject test score although it is not required. Making it not required may just be a mean to allow them to pick specific students like athlete recruitment without changing the rule.
Agree, I too was addressing the tippy top schools with acceptance rates in the single digits…
Right. A big part of it comes down to the target colleges. So for Bowdoin, optional is indeed optional, IMO.
However, for a college in the HYPMS realm, the above would really not be a valid excuse. I mean, all the other applicants have a heavy class load, combined with EC’s.
And the AP teacher is correct; no AP course is designed to prepare a student for the Subject Test (although certain teachers may include prep as part of the class). That said, and many others disagree with me on this, I believe that most kids are over prepping for Subject Tests. If they take the test at the end of the year, particularly if the course itself has a final, there really is minimal additional prep that should be needed. Obviously, it will vary by kid.
Our experience, SAT subject test prep varies based on teacher and what said teacher chooses to cover (or not cover) in class. My twins had different biology teachers their freshman year (different schools as well). S’s teacher was so thorough he needed minimal additional prep for the SAT Bio test. D’s teacher…well, she looked over a prep book and was shocked at what she didn’t know.
When test-optional colleges say that scores are “optional” and “considered,” they are truly optional. Every admissions office of a test optional school is abundantly clear about that. If they enhance your application, submit your scores and they will consider them. If they do not enhance your application, don’t submit and no harm done.
“Recommended” is a stronger wording and should happen, barring financial or other reasons as detailed above.
Regarding the AP versus SAT 2 content debate:
My son took each of his three SAT 2 tests in June of the year he studied the subject in school. He did not study for any of his SAT 2’s, since he figured he already had studied for the AP tests and the content knowledge was fresh in his mind. His scores were fantastic; in regard to APUSH specifically, he got an 800.
But if you are taking a test several months after the related high school class has ended, a little studying might be needed.