<p>I have a friend whose D was an admissions counselor at a school that claims to be "SAT Optional."</p>
<p>Her D says that "SAT Optional" applies to only kids who fall into a category of kids that has been proven not to test well and is underrepresented, that this is true of all schools not just hers, and for most kids test scores are indeed required and important at these schools.</p>
<p>Does anyone believe this?</p>
<p>Are "SAT Optional" schools really "SAT Optional" for everyone?</p>
<p>I thought the same thing… but both my daughter’s applied to test optional schools. They have been accepted to 3 of them so far ( with very nice merit money) Still waiting on 2 more ( selective LAC.) We will find out in a few weeks on the other two. A friend’s daughter applied to test optional schools last year but did not get in. I think the difference is my daughters have solid gpa’s, course rigor and ec’s. No hooks. </p>
<p>Depends on the school At one allegedly SAT optional school, D3 was told by the interviewer that she better submit her SATs if she wanted any merit aid, but at another, she did the “alternate” application involving an essay and graded paper and was offered a healthy scholarship. At the second school, the interviewer emphasized that they recognized that for some students, standardized testing didn’t offer an accurate picture of the student’s potential.</p>
<p>“this is true of all schools not just hers”</p>
<p>Well, this is the point at which you can start doubting the story. I literally can’t think of any admissions policy that is true of ALL schools, or even of every school in a large category like test-optional. Think about the conflicting needs and interests of different kinds of schools.</p>
<p>Huh - my boys both attend colleges that are test optional. Neither submitted scores and both were admitted and with good financial aid. Neither has a hook although both are deaf but I can’t imagine that has anything to do with anything. I agree with Hanna - that different schools have different policies. But in our boys’ case, test optional really appeared to be just that.</p>
<p>Here is an example of a test-optional-for-some-students policy: the California State Universities are test-optional for in-state students applying to non-impacted majors at non-impacted campuses whose HS GPAs alone meet the minimum CSU eligibility standard. However, other applicants should submit test scores:</p>
<p><a href=“Cal State Apply | CSU”>Cal State Apply | CSU;
<p>I don’t know about every school, but I think that in general (at least among the more selective schools), a “test optional” policy exists primarily to benefit the college, not the student. It allows the school to admit relatively low-scoring students they would have admitted anyway, without depressing the statistical averages. If you don’t submit scores, then you must have some other compensating strengths to make up for that missing information. </p>
<p>tk, you’re right, because there IS one kind of generalization you can make about admissions policies: they always serve the school’s vision of its mission and interests.</p>