<p>My D is planning to apply to a couple of Lib Arts colleges where the SAT/ACT are optional for admissions. Her scores are toward the bottom of the 25%-75% middle range; about at 28-30%. Any thoughts on whether she should or should not submit her scores?</p>
<p>Urge you to read specific info from each school you are considering. For instance, Sewannee is score optional but you have to provide graded writing sample - at least that was the way it was a few years ago. In this case, if writing is very strong, then would go without score. Seems like one school required interview if no scores. Be sure you know all your options. Honestly, you might want to ask this question in individual school forums where someone might have gone through this.</p>
<p>Lawrence University in Appleton, WI is a Test Optional school.</p>
<p>[Test</a> Optional - Lawrence University](<a href=“http://lawrence.edu/admissions/about/testoptional.shtml]Test”>http://lawrence.edu/admissions/about/testoptional.shtml)</p>
<p>Test Optional is beneficial for kids who do not test well, but otherwise perform well. If the test scores are reflective of D’s ability, then it really does not matter (grades and tests tell the same story).</p>
<p>One of the top schools academically that is SAT optional would have to be Furman University. Some call it the Harvard of the South, I don’t think it’s nearly that good, but it is top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges according to USWNR.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of the SAT optional institutions. Not all are completely optional, check the asterisks. [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>
<p>If your daughter has good stats and she just got bad SAT scores, then I suggest she applies without them. There are many top liberal arts colleges that don’t require test scores. Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bowdoin, Sarah Lawrence, Connecticut College, Gettysburg, Furman U, Lawrence U, are all test optional as far as I can remember.</p>
<p>Or she could take it again, many institutions still take the December and even January scores.</p>
<p>I guess I was not clear . . . my daughter has taken the SAT and ACT. Both of her scores are good but not great. They are within the 25%-75% middle scores at two of the test optional schools but they are close to the bottom, i.e. about 30%. Her grades, EC, essays and recs are all solid. The question is whether a test score at the 30th percentile is generally a positive or a negative. It is obviously not a big plus but it is within the schools range.</p>
<p>I understand that she can re-take the tests but, suffice it to say, she really doesn’t want to.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>If the two test optional schools are her favorite schools then I wouldn’t report them, but if they’re not her top schools, then I might just submit the SAT and see what happens.</p>
<p>I can’t see how “Don’t report them if the colleges are your favorites, but otherwise, what the hell?” is rational advice. Whether your daughter would be better off to report her standardized test scores has nothing that I can see to do with how much she likes the specific colleges.</p>
<p>If I were the applicant in this scenario, I would not report SAT or ACT scores that weren’t at least close to the midpoint of that interquartile spread. I believe that by the time you’re down around the lower quartile, a much smaller percentage of applicants with those scores are successul, and many of the ones who do gain admission are athletes, legacies, etc.</p>
<p>Oh, how odd. My post #6 above was a reply to Crimsonstained7’s post #8.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not a great attitude to have going into college.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A negative. When a kid is “below average” for the school, it usually means there is something else about the kid that stands out. For example, athletes and musicians would be given more leeway in their academic requirements. They are selected for their non-academic talents.</p>
<p>Notice, Sikorsky, first of all, that I said “might just submit…” not that’s the best plan. I would do that because, if it’s a top school, I wouldn’t take the chance on it, but if it’s not, then I’d like to see if I could get in anyway, even with the lower SAT. No need to get obnoxiously sarcastic.</p>
<p>It actually does have to do with how much you want to go there. I had 4 SAT reports available and sent them only to my favorite schools, while, since I had already reported other SAT’s to the other two, I didn’t. I would have spent the extra money, but I figured my SAT’s were in their range, so why waste the money.</p>
<p>I am sorry that you were offended by my wording, but I still don’t see how what you’re talking about makes any sense at all. I don’t understand why “see if I could get in anyway” is a good approach to college admissions, unless you’re targeting HYP, etc.</p>
<p>And I’m sorry, but I don’t understand that second paragraph, about 4 score reports, at all.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>
<p>I only had 4 score reports, and one was National Merit stuff. So I only sent it to my top 3. I figured that my score was fine for the other three.</p>
<p>I’m applying to my favorite school, a second favorite, another great school, one my parents are making me, one safety, and one extra. Therefore if I had 2 LAC’s and they weren’t that important to me, I wouldn’t care about sending the SAT and so I wouldn’t want to waste the money, so why not apply in see if I can get in anyway.</p>
<p>I think the OP is talking about the 4 **FREE ** score reports that the College Board gives you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses.</p>
<p>My D is an athlete so perhaps that is a also a factor.</p>
<p>Opera Dad . . . she has already taken the SAT three times and the ACT twice. All of her scores are very good and remarkably consistent but for these schools they are below the averages. In her view - and mine - enough is enough. Not sure taking the tests a fourth or fifth time is necessary to have a good attitude going into college.</p>
<p>The Fair Test site that lists SAT optional schools lists U of Oklahoma as one of them, yet the website seems to have no mention of the tests being optional. At least I haven’t found a reference to it anywhere. Does anyone know if this school in Norman, OK is optional for SATs or not?</p>
<p>Tia, the best way to get an answer you can trust for a question like that is to call the Admissions Office at OU and ask them.</p>