<p>Tokenadult,
This student’s stance strikes me as cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. There are simply too many highly qualified applicants at the top schools to play that game. There are a number of fine colleges that are SAT/ACT optional (Bowdoin – and I believe Hampshire – come immediately to mind). The other posters are right, though – if there are no test scores, a candidate will never even <em>get</em> to the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Moreover, at least for Intel, RSI and TASP, those standardized test scores are required as part of the application process. Those are more opportunities lost for an exceptional student who doesn’t want to do the testing.</p>