<p>Drew University has just announced that it is joining the growing list of schools that have made submitting SATs optional:
<a href="http://depts.drew.edu/media/news/article.php?id=444%5B/url%5D">http://depts.drew.edu/media/news/article.php?id=444</a></p>
<p>Yes, Caroline, like many of the other colleges makeing the SAT optional, they require a graded paper from hs. Other schools where the SAT is optional require the candidate to be in the top 10% of their class.</p>
<p>Carolyn-
Son received a letter from Sarah Lawrence just a few days ago with the same result: "Our recent decision to remove all standardized testing from the admission process reflects the Colleges emphasis on writing rather than testing."</p>
<p>He also received a letter from Holy Cross a few weeks ago with this: "Beginning with the class entering in the fall of 2006, the submission of standardized tests (SAT I, SAT II and ACT) are optional for admission to the College of the Holy Cross."</p>
<p>There have been a few others but can't remember all of them in the deluge of mail that has descended upon our house.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Bowdoin, Mt. Holyoke and Wheaton (Ma.) to name a few more.</p>
<p>These schools make access easier for those who go to schools with grade inflation and less competitive programs. It does help students who simply are poor standardized test takers to get into some fabulous schools. They will have some very nice choices if they keep those gpas up.</p>
<p>From Middlebury site:</p>
<p>"Candidates must submit standardized tests in at least three areas of study. The requirement may be met by submitting either the ACT; or the SAT I administered on or after March 12, 2005; or three exams in different areas of study which may be selected, mixed and matched from either the SAT IIs, APs or International Baccalaureate exams."</p>
<p>"Academic Profile
Top 10% of Class: 84%
SAT 1 Verbal Mid-50% Range 620-710
SAT 1 Math Mid-50% Range 610-690
ACT Mid-50% Range 29-32"</p>
<p>PS Middlebury has found one of the best way to solidify its ranking in USNews. A lower SAT will result in a lower selectivity and cost it a small fraction in a category worth an almighty 1.5%, but be amply rewarded in the different category that is expected graduation rate and carries three times more weight. After stumbling down the rankings for the class of 2007, Midd must have spent some good time analyzing how Wellesley gets rewarded year after year for its lower selectivity. </p>
<p>If schools are serious about dropping the SAT, they should stop reporting the scores altogether. While some schools might report their scores with integrity -as Middlebury seems to be- others will not hesitate to play abject games of selective reporting. </p>
<p>It would wonderful to see "alternative admissions" schools and "non-coed" schools listed in separate rankings. So, if schools want to use different admission systems, it won't have any impact on the general category of US News. Do I see this happening any time soon? Are we kidding one another -just look at the list of schools!</p>
<p>If schools are serious about dropping the SAT, they should stop reporting the scores altogether. >></p>
<p>I agree with you Xiggi. They should also stop using them as a basis for merit awards. If test scores are really so meaningless that they don't need them to let you in, then they should not be used to decide if you are worthy of merit money.</p>
<p>The schools are not oblivious to the fact that their median SAT scores reported to USNEWS (i.e. "presige" and attractiveness to full-fare customers) increase simply by inviting their lowest-SAT customers to no longer submit their scores.</p>
<p>Our high school puts the SAT scores on the student TRANSCRIPTS. When I politely asked if they could delete these for students applying to SAT optional schools, they said NO...it was part of the student record. I guess I need to write another letter to the G department with my "concern". The GC said "if the student sends us the scores, we have to put them on the transcript". BS, I say. How many of your HSs put the SAT scores ON the transcript? The colleges won't accept those as "official score reports" anyway. I can't imagine why they are doing this.</p>
<p>Thumper that is unfair. Our hs does not put sat scores, AP scores, ACT scores, etc. on the transcript.</p>
<p>Thumper1, you may try to point out to the high school that test scores are not part the high school records. The ONLY thing that is asked of them is to report the grades and other information related to the school itself. It is your CHILD record, not theirs. Ask them if the school is prepared to bear the responsibility of possible errors in reporting the test scores, especially the ACT scores. </p>
<p>If that does not work, advise the school that you will contact the College Board and report the violation of your child test records. My parents faced a similar situation with a recalcitrant GC, and the mention to the principal of contacting TCB took care of it instantly. There was no reason to hide the scores, but it was an issue of principle. High schools do tend to make up rules at their convenience. However, your right to privacy cannot be denied. </p>
<p>This is why I recommend to everyone who wants to listen to NEVER report the high school CEEB number on your SAT and Subject Tests. This way your high school has to obtain the scores from the student, not the other way around. Alas, you can't do that for the PSAT.</p>
<p>Very good advice Xiggi.</p>
<p>I also have a question about merit scholarships. Drew offered a student a free ride if they scored 1400 on their SAT. An SAT optional student wouldn't have that offer, no matter how high their grades were. If their aren't alternatives, it doesn't give everyone a fair chance. Also, although I like the SAT optional trend, does anyone think it's a way to increase their rankings because only the higher scorers would apply and maybe they'd get a few more URM"s. That is what a Holy Cross student told me when they went "optional". Other than an * after the numbers, I agree it isn't fair to rank them all the same.</p>
<p>Re: dropping SATs to get higher ranking....</p>
<p>Well, it's different for different schools. A school like Bowdoin, for example, made SATs optional before the recent hysteria over high rankings in USNWR, and has been - for over two hundred years - one of the best schools in the country. A school in the the third tier that suddenly becomes SAT optional and then moves up would make me suspicious.</p>
<p>However, overall, I welcome the trend. Far too often there is little correlation between high SATs and ahievement --- and if you disagree with that, at the very least you have to admit that there is no NECESSARY connection. One of my kids isn't great at three-hour multiple-choice tests - some kids just think TOO much about the questions - yet is blowing most kids out of the water at his (top ten) school, winning not only school awards but national fellowships etc. (He had to submit his scores though - he's not at an SAT-optional school).
Some of his friends, with their 1550-1600 scores, are plodding along, doing well, but no big deal.</p>
<p>When colleges choose students, they usually (and should) take into consideration- the entire picture of the applicant - drawn from any and all aspects available: SATs, GPAs, Essays, ECs, Letters of Recs, Interviews & Portfolios. Some kids do poorly on standardized tests due to anxiety issues, some kids have rough patches in school due to a few horrible teachers, family/social issues or lack of maturity - negatively impacting their GPAs. </p>
<p>An applicant is not a machine, but a human being - and in most cases - if still a teenager, will not even have a fully formed brain until around 21 years of age. It is important not to base a teen's entire potential on any one thing, and use all information available to make an assessment.</p>
<p>Bowdoin and Holy Cross are 2 of the better National LAC's not sure of any National Universities?</p>
<p>My school puts AP, SAT, SAT2 scores on our transcripts and will not remove them for any reason. Which ticks me off because I got a 2 on one of my ap tests and was planning on hiding it.</p>
<p>"Well, it's different for different schools. A school like Bowdoin, for example, made SATs optional before the recent hysteria over high rankings in USNWR, and has been - for over two hundred years - one of the best schools in the country. A school in the the third tier that suddenly becomes SAT optional and then moves up would make me suspicious."</p>
<p>Bowdoin is indeed a great school. The issue is that that, despite having a hybrid position on the SAT, they do seem to have their cake and eat it. Bowdoin reports 1290-1460 SAT scores. How that number is composed rests entirely with the discretion of Bowdoin. </p>
<p>In itself, there should not be a problem as Bowdoin is ranked 8th in selectivity. However, the problems starts when it affects OTHER schools in a ranking. No matter how we look at it, the purpose of a ranking is to establish ... something. In this case, USN pretends to rank schools according to their quality since they call the issue, "The Best Colleges ...". </p>
<p>Well, take a quick view at the differences between Pomona and Bowdoin. With all due respect to Bowdoin, except for the highly manipulated peer assessment, do you see any reason for Pomona to have dropped to 6th and Bowdoin climbed to 6th since last year? The only reason is that Pomona is "killed" for being more selective than Bowdoin. The same happens to Swarthmore when compared to Wellesley. Obviously, the absolute lack of integrity and judgment of USN shines the brightest when it attempts to rank Harvey Mudd. The most selective LAC in the country ranks dead last in its graduation expectation -which happens to be established at such a ridiculous value that it dwarfs Caltech. </p>
<p>Regardless of the "hysteria", USN should segregate colleges that are not really comparable to others. In the meantime, the ranking will continue to be subject to the kind of manipulation that allows a school such as Wellesley to be ranked higher than Pomona. Its impact goes a lot further than the mere fueling of rampant parental paranoia. The rankings' impact is pervasive in the life of colleges, as it has a profound impact on assessments, faculty salaries, and even bond ratings. Take a look at the ranking of faculty salaries and you can almost superimpose it on the USN rankings.</p>
<p>My high school puts the scores of SAT I's, SAT II's and TOEFL on the student's transcript. I don't really understand why it does, but I suppose it makes a neat picture. We don't offer AP so it won't be put on it.</p>
<p>I also believe they put the scores of IB exams taken the previous year on it. </p>
<p>The USN is unfair, but I think there is some thought given to the fact that only students with strong SAT scores <em>will</em> submit theirs to the SAT Optional school, especially if their GPA/transcript is a little weak. (But not enough that admissions comm thinks the person is a slacker.) So, obviously, the SAT scores are inflated when they post them up on CB or so. Kinda irks me, cause it's semi-fake, but at the same time, gives me something to base my safeties/matches/reaches on. </p>
<p>But I do love the fact that Mount Holyoke and Bates are SAT Optional. :D</p>