@PNWedwonk Deciding whether or not to submit test scores is one of the easiest decisions to make since 70% - 80% do. A 26 would be in the bottom 25% for all the schools you mentioned by varying degree.
So clearly submitting a data point like that isn’t a good idea when you have the option to position her in a better way.
The school will look at the balance of her application and try to come up with a score and percentile for her as well review qualitative aspects. This is why test optional schools only work for a true aberration. It is quite possible students from her high school and similar high schools with similar courses and grades but better test scores illustrate that her abilities are not reflected in the test. It is also possible they look at transcript and high school and decide otherwise.
By definition, kids that don’t submit test scores don’t submit them to reach schools, so the backbone of your list needs to be where a 26 is an average or better than average score.
There’s a false premise in this thread, which is that if a college does require submission of test scores, then you can use test scores to help determine likelihood of admission. Now, I don’t doubt that’s true to some extent, but for it to be really true the test scores would have to be a significant factor in a particular college’s decisions. In many cases, that’s not true. The college will have – because every college has – some sort of bell-curve distribution of test scores, but it would have had that distribution had it selected its entering class by lot. If the college DID select its class by lot, your test scores would tell you nothing about admission chances.
Of course, I don’t think any colleges select their classes by lot. And admission may well be biased to students with higher test scores. But it may be biased to those students because, on average, they write better, get better grades, have more enthusiastic recommendations from teachers. On an average basis, that’s almost certainly the case. But if you are a student with relatively low test scores, but you write well, get great grades at a quality school, and have teachers singing your praises enthusiastically . . . then maybe your test scores aren’t going to matter, as long as they are not low enough to call into question your ability to handle the work in college. Kids like that are the kids who DO get in, notwithstanding being in the bottom quartile of something or other. (Well, kids like that and kids who are 6’5". weigh 300 lbs, and can run a 4.3 40 in pads . . . )
@MWDadOf3 , I think when most people say their scores were “no prep,” it is usually a form of bragging, especially when the scores were high. I know I bragged about my daughter’s SAT score a few years ago like this.
It can also be a way of explaining a poor score. And this is why I agree with you that it is very important to prep. That is the only sure way to get the highest score one can.
And of course, a decent score is no predictor of acceptance, especially at a school that is test optional. My son had a 2230 on the SAT (don’t know if he prepped well, but he did have the book!) and was waitlisted, then rejected from Wesleyan, probably because he had no interview and his scores and grades (4.7/5.0) were pretty much it for his application. I’m pretty sure many with lower scores got in, which gives one hope for those who don’t test very well.
@MWDadOf3 and @Massmomm I guess my using “No Prep” was a sort of bragging? Or excuse making? She had pretty good reasons for not prepping for those and is now prepping for the ACT since it felt like a more reasonable test to her. She will be applying to schools that do require the scores. She is not a great standardized test taker for whatever reason
I think often people say “No prep” because they do think that means the score could maybe come up a little higher with prep. Sometimes I think they are asking for permission to just let the kid stop testing and go write a musical or something. I’m not a big fan of the tests and feel like all the prep is a sort of arms race that doesn’t really benefit anyone. I was a great tester myself and firmly believe that D is much brighter than I ever was. Maybe not a better student, but definitely more potential as to doing something amazing.
@PNWedwonk, I agree with you that if a kid isn’t a great test taker, then the score can definitely come up after a little studying. So much of standardized test taking is about recognizing the type of question and learning to eliminate the bad choices quickly.
Even though my kids are good test takers, I agree with you that the SAT/ACT are no longer a useful benchmark. The tests are too expensive, and many kids who would benefit from prep courses don’t have access to them.
“I share momof2eagles’s suspicions: that the test optional choice is designed for a certain class of students, namely economically and educationally disadvantaged kids. The idea is to reach out to them and make it easier for them to apply. Therefore, my concern is what reception admissions will give a middle class, non-URM from a decent school who opts not to submit scores.”
My son goes to Wake Forest. He comes from a well-off family and attended a competitive public high school that sends students to top colleges and universities around the country. His grades and ECs were great. His test scores, however, were uneven. They didn’t reflect the sort of student he really was. He did get tutoring and God bless the kid, he did 10 full practice tests, but he still couldn’t hit the numbers he “needed” to get a look from certain schools and he didn’t have the time in his ultra busy schedule to take the tests over and over (our friend’s son got perfect scores on the SAT but he took them 6 times!). We are pretty sure that my son was “red lined” by two competitive schools simply because of his test scores.
At Wake his freshman year, my son took 17-19 credits each semester. He made Dean’s List each semester (at a school commonly known as Work Forest). He was in four theater productions and he participated in two major campus philanthropic events. One professor nominated him for a prestigious scholarship program and another took him out to breakfast to try to convince him to double major in his department. He was selected to be an RA this coming sophomore year.
I don’t say these things to brag, but rather to show that he has been very successful at school. He loves Wake Forest and I’m pretty sure that Wake is glad that they scooped him up. Being test optional allows a school like Wake to admit a student like my son without having to sacrifice bottom line numbers that go into calculating those silly rankings that seem to mean so much to everyone.
I’m pretty sure many with lower scores got in, which gives one hope for those who don’t test very well.