"Of the 334,000 students registered to take the SAT on Sept. 26, 183,000 will not be able to take the test. And of the 363,000 registered to take the SAT or the SAT Subject Tests on Oct. 3, 154,000 will be unable to do so.
The students were told that they couldn’t take the test because testing centers – most of them in high schools – were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic or had imposed new limits on students. The College Board, which run the exams, released information about the center closures and limited space Tuesday. Most students had already been notified but would not have known how many students were turned away.
Of test centers initially scheduled to administer the tests, 61 percent are open for September and 65 percent are currently open for October, though some have reduced capacity.
The closures and limited space issues follow similar problems that occurred during the August SAT, when 402,000 students were registered to take the exam or SAT Subject Tests, but 178,600 were unable to do so because so many testing centers had closed due to the coronavirus pandemic." …
As did we (chose Catholic school) for the October test, but it was canceled too. Just depends on the state and county.
My D has had her March, May, June, September and October SAT tests canceled.
What’s amazing to me is that there are still roughly 50% +/- of the students in this country still taking the test and getting scores. If D is unable to take a test in this admissions cycle, as well as other non-test takers, then she’ll/they’ll be at a disadvantage IMO. But it is what it is.
And please, I won’t believe any of the comments from AO’s, schools, counselors or anyone else that says otherwise. Students that submit SAT/ACT scores will have an advantage over the unknown in terms of test scores.
The College Board at least delivered the results of the August test more or less on time.
ACT, that’s a really bad news. They say the results will be available in 2-8 weeks.
And they cannot guarantee even that… so it is entirely possible that taking the test on 9/12 was not early enough for the ED round.
Based on our experience, rural vs. urban is a better predictor of the test actually happening than Catholic vs. public.
If the school has classes in person, unless they restrict the exam to their own students, the test is likely to happen.
With the cases going up again, however, this all can change.
My son needs a score in the system for NCAA recruiting purposes. I can’t imagine they will waive the requirement for the class of 2022 as they did for 2020. I don’t anticipate him earning the type of score he’ll need for some schools he’s targeting, but any score is better than nothing at this point. I’m not even sure he’ll get the chance to take the PSAT since his high school is 100% remote.
I do remember that your son is a GK. Best of luck to you and your son.
We have a November test still “on the books” and my D’s public HS MAY attempt to schedule an SAT to be taken at school in October for seniors only. But I won’t be holding my breath.
For a student who could score high enough on the PSAT to get National Merit Semifinalist, not being able to take it could mean no way to get the National Merit Semifinalist / Finalist based scholarships. The same could apply to any who could score high enough for the College Board recognition programs based on PSAT score, although the number and size of scholarships attached to such recognition is fewer and smaller than for National Merit Finalist.
“Even though many colleges and universities are dropping SAT and ACT test requirements, at least for 2021 applicants, Illinois high school students must still complete the SAT in order to get their diplomas. The Illinois State Board of Education is not waiving that rule for the class of 2021, though spokeswoman Jackie Matthews said districts can seek exemptions for individual students and that “no student will be prevented from graduating because they were unable to take the SAT.” While Illinois received a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education for accountability assessments for this group of students, Matthews said some research shows that a school day SAT serves as an incentive for students to enroll in college.”
Some schools have scheduled the exam (some for this month, some for next) and will open temporarily to students for that purpose. A peek on the College Board web page shows about half of test sites closed for this upcoming Saturday’s exam, though.
No wonder there is a lot of confusion, and, despite most colleges going test optional, why some students have such a sense of urgency to take the exam.
So my friends daughter has a 34 Act and 1520 Sat that should took outside of CPS. They are still requiring her to “sit” for the school test. She can cancel her score within 3 days or they will let her take it in April with the Juniors… So stupid. This was last week. Maybe something changed since then.
This might sound really stupid, but if the SAT/ACT is solely for college admissions, and if a student isn’t able to take the test but still feels compelled to submit SOMETHING to show that they would have scored well had they been given the opportunity, what about their GC submitting other, earlier, test scores for this student? Such as PSAT scores or the ACT Aspire scores, or if a student doesn’t have those, what about the scores on whatever annual standardized tests are given like the Iowas? I know there are big differences in the tests, particularly the Iowa’s vs PSAT/Aspire. But in the absence of anything else besides grades, especially for an unknown HS, it is some kind of outside metric.
There was a SAT in our D’s CPS school today. We planned to drive for a re-take to Indiana on a Saturday so for us, it was actually perfectly timed. Also, she enjoyed walking into the school for the first time in 6 months, and seeing some of her friends in person.
PSAT, cancelled last year the day before the teachers’ strike and never effectively rescheduled is a different story, bordering criminal negligence IMHO.
Agreed. Not to mention how the strike messed up fall sports last year, and now this year limited fall sports are happening in Ill, which is negatively impacting sports recruiting for CPS kids.
Literally, not being able to qualify as NMF and/or be recruited for their sport is the difference between some of these kids going to college or not. The adults have been behaving badly, without consequence.
Best of luck to you and your son.