Our school does give tests but it was booked up very fast, so many kids we knew ended up having to register at high schools far away. It’s a large public school. I was really surprised by how many classmates had trouble getting the tests last year!
That’s correct as the initial topic is Columbia’s decision to maintain TO status…which some have linked to a method to maintain or improve racial quotas ,which I had never considered. My initial post was about the test and wanting a black or white decision on the testing process and not the TO gray area that promotes practices like "should I submit this 33 ACT score because its “only” 25% for X school - or “the college advisor said not to submit a score”.
I think if a test is taken it should be submitted (there’s enough gaming with superscoring) or they shouldn’t be taken.
Unfortunately if there is no uniformity between schools and kids are applying to many different schools (some requiring it and others not requiring it) the middle ground however confusing will be what most schools will do ( irregardless of ulterior motives). I just hope schools do not feel they are making the process any easier ( sure if a Kid completely bombs a a test - but they still had to take the time and incur the cost to take it) by a TO option - when in fact in many circumstances they are making it harder for those kids who have scores that are borderline or are in the lower % for a certain school.
Just to follow on with that, some kids were also unable to take the PSAT at all, as our school doesn’t have space for all kids who want to take it. Only juniors are allowed to take the PSAT, and when there is more demand than seats, the seats are distributed by lottery.
I admit I am confused-the school houses all the juniors daily already. How can it not have room on test day?
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fwiw: our city does not offer SAT/ACT in any of the 4 high schools, and hasn’t for as long as I can remember. (Not sure of the rationale.).
I don’t know why they don’t offer it to all juniors, maybe it’s a cost thing? This last fall, they announced that there were PSAT seats for 350 juniors in a class of about 850. As my son was not a junior, I don’t know how many kids hoped to take the PSAT and were disappointed. In fall 2021 (my son’s junior year), even fewer seats were offered.
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That’s crazy. This is something that universities and the testing services should be funding as they are the ones profiting from this process. If its truly a measure to help admit students to schools and identify those who excel (again not going into the SES issues of testing)…
Oh wait now that schools (colleges) feel it’s optional I guess they will have no stake in assuring that anyone who wants to can take it.
Sounds like a lawsuit ready to happen since there are some financial implications for those who do well. All should be given the chance if they attend school (space cant be an issue and testing service should cover staff coverage if done outside of school hours - if done in school hours no additional cost should be incurred).
With the exception of pandemic related closures, access to a test site doesnt appear to be a common problem.
Depends on what you define as access. We live in an affluent suburb and there are no ACT sites located within an hour of our home. The closer (one hour away ) sites fill up quickly, so D24 is taking the April test at a site almost 2 hours away. An overnight stay at a hotel near the site the night before seems to be judicious in order to not have to leave our house at 5:30 am on a Saturday. We can afford this and have a reliable car to get to the testing site, but it’s an assumption to think that all families are in this position.
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Perhaps, but it hasnt really been raised as much of an issue in the last 50 years. Nor do I think it was part of the current decision.
They wouldn’t need to presume anything about a non-submitted student, because they know that the other student has an SAT 1500. So one has an additional factor in their favor, while the other has not.
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Bingo!
The UCs are doing a pretty good job of this without tests. All holistic admissions involves assessing fit. Schools do put out information regarding what they are looking for vis a vis fit.
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Curious about the basis for this statement, I heard complaints from last year’s seniors that the uc decisions seemed fairly arbitrary last year compared to some years past, which I think is a combination of the capped weighted average and test blind. I think the basis for admission decisions at the uc’s becoming so fuzzy probably has something to do with the drop in applications this year when applications are up pretty much everywhere else.
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I don’t quite get this…
Son, ~1400, I know my household income.
Son’s friend, approx. ~1580, income slightly lower.
Son’s classmate, ~1000, income and wealth in the stratosphere.
Read books for pleasure, will have a high verbal score.
Read books for pleasure, will do well in school and math.
I really don’t get how income makes much sense. Its really about parenting. Read with kid 30 minutes everyday for life, check kids homework for 5 minutes everyday for life… you have a 1400SAT kiddo. Period. No if’s and’s but’s about it.
So maybe it just so happens those who parent their kids also are those that work hard in life and look to have jobs… and if they don’t like their job they work harder to get a better job… and their income goes up…
Easy way out is income = sat success… whereas really the lifestyle of a family to achieve success is the R^2 of 1.
I’m off topic… its just too convienent of a narrative…
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Except that a 1500 may well cut against their favor, or not tip the scales one way or another, depending on the college and the particular circumstances of the applicant.
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No doubt it’s helpful to a child’s development, including potentially test-taking towards the end of high school, to do all of these things, and we agree parents who can should absolutely do these things. But no, getting a 1400 on the SAT is not automatic if you should be lucky enough to have parents who do these things.
I like TO simply in that it takes away a stressor for many students during a time and process that is already very stressful. And the research thus far is that removing the tests has been more or less neutral in terms of admissions. Lots more research to come, but my vote is to have fewer hurdles to stress kids out. If your kids love taking tests, then by all means submit test scores. If not, then skip them. Most colleges seem to be adjusting.
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This is true. Our internship seeking college student was told to put their (high) SAT score on their resume.
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It sounds like you area basing your opinion based on extremely small and anecdotal sample. Reading regularly and checking kids homework certainly does not guarantee a 94th percentile score.
Similarly while the 3 people you know may not have scores well correlated with income, studies of larger samples consistently find a notable correlation with income. In my earlier post I mentioned than among kids who score 1400+, 80% were in upper 2 income quintiles, and 9% were in lower 2 income quintiles. The discrepancy gets even more extreme at higher score levels. The reasons for this correlation with income are complex and multifaceted and go far beyond parents encouraging kids to read or checking homework.
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