<p>OK, so there is this big list of schools at Fairtest where the SAT/ACT are not required. Can this really work? Isn't any adcom going to look at the student's app and wonder why when they have good class rank/GPA, the SAT isn't submitted? No need to wonder though, it's because it's bad. Can the adcoms possibly ignore this?</p>
<p>Also, it seems that many of these same schools then give out merit money based on rank, GPA and SAT/ACT. </p>
<p>Does anyone really think that having no SATs with an otherwise good application is going to be overlooked?</p>
<p>yep, worked for me. Got into a school that was a true reach score wise, was sort of fed up sending/giving more $$ to College Board. So took a shot, got in with the most merit money offered by any school. A school that we are DEFINITELY considering because it dropped it down below an instate public cost by about 4K.</p>
<p>S got into a top-20 University which is SAT-optional for transfers (which he was). He didn't submit.</p>
<p>Yes, they are really optional. It works for them (lots of threads on the whys of this). The common wisdom which I recall from such threads (and which makes sense to me) is: check past history of average SAT for school of interest and guesstimate the trend. If your SAT score will be above that average, submit. It will help the school in the rankings and in the figures submitted to CB etc. If yours would pull the average down, don't submit.</p>
<p>Can't speak to the merit $ issue: which schools are optional but base merit awards in part on them? For those, I guess maybe not really optional. But I can't say for sure. However, if someone's SAT scores are in the range for merit money (ie, in the top 5-25% of applicant pool), why even consider not submitting?</p>
<p>A few observations on test-optional schools:</p>
<p>Applicants who do not submit ACT/SAT results are assumed to have weaker scores. So if you’re not going to submit scores, you should have a strong high school transcript. </p>
<p>Although some schools on the FairTest list don't require standardized tests for any purpose in making admissions decisions, many schools that appear on the list are not purely test-optional. Some require SAT IIs or AP exam scores in lieu of the SAT or ACT. Some schools that don’t require test scores for admissions purposes still require them for class placement. It's important to check the admissions requirements on websites of colleges you’re interested in. "Test-optional" means different things at different schools.</p>
<p>Applicants who are looking for merit-based aid must still submit ACT/SAT results to most test-optional schools.</p>
<p>The big list of colleges consists MOSTLY of colleges that are explicitly open-admission colleges. All you need to get into such a college is the proverbial "heartbeat and a check." There are a few pretty decent colleges that don't require SAT scores (or ACT scores) for any applicants, and several more that will waive test requirements for applicants who have a reasonably strong previous record of studies, but the most selective colleges are still resolutely interested in test scores, even though those are not the only issue for admission. </p>
<p>I guess I'm just a little confused by the above post and the three links wrt the OP question. Here is the list of schools which fairtest provides as SAT optional: Optional</a> List | FairTest.</p>
<p>Certainly there are a large number of "most selective colleges [that] are still resolutely interested in test scores, even though those are not the only issue for admission." However, there is also an impressive list of colleges - quite selective - that do not require SAT scores for admission: Bates, Bowdoin, Holy Cross to name a few.</p>
<p>Here is a partial list of moderately selective and selective colleges that are SAT/ACT optional. Be aware that some may not be completely test-optional (see post #5):</p>
<p>Bard College
Bates College
Benington College
Bowdoin College
Connecticut College
Denison U
Dickinson College
Franklin and Marshall College
Goucher College
Hamilton College
Hampshire College
Knox College
Lake Forest College
Lawrence University
Lewis & Clark College
Middlebury College
Mount Holyoke College
Muhlenberg College
Pitzer College
Sarah Lawrence (This school will not accept or consider scores at all.)
Union College</p>