Nor was I certain! My child had NO obvious reason not to submit scores. A good enough public school district. Not an URM. Not low income. Applied RD to all schools. Turned out fine. Denied at two, accepted at three. All liberal-arts colleges. But as I said in the original post, this is a sample size of 1, thus why I wanted more folks to comment.
I really do believe that at least the liberal arts colleges that we were looking at do not care, based on this one child’s experience. And quite obviously, the UCs have moved away …
I wasn’t thinking of acceptances or denials.
I was actually commenting on scholarship money for merit (several of his were directly link to test scores) and for leadership and service scholarships (for which he was, obviously, ineligible.)
I did said their lack affected him. I did not specify how.
For us, cost is paramount since we are considered ineligible for aid. The effects are in scholarships both positive and negative.
Oh, I did just think of something that required scores for those reading this thread for next year.
At the university that is currently S23’s top choice as he makes a final decision, the specialty, selective, application-only Business Fellows program required official test scores or at minimum an AP or IB score for Math to apply. (Which would mean having taken AP Calculus as a junior?)
It was made very clear that although the college was test optional, that program was not really. You could apply TO, but it was openly stated that you might be deferred or denied without them and that they were basically required.
So for Class of 24 and beyond, there is the secondary consideration for test scores about sub-programs within TO colleges that might maintain the requirement for scores.
Yes. Always the best source although sometimes it’s a little hard to tease out kids who shared both tests post matriculation, and who shared scores as part of their apps and who provided them only at matriculation. To really get the dirt, your need someone on the “inside”.
I was glad for TO for S22 as it saved a lot of time and angst. I like having the choice. S24 is most likely going to submit his test scores - took SAT once and did well but not quite as well as he hoped. Is going to re-take in August after prepping one test section specifically (grammar - he did really, really well on everything else). I don’t expect he will be putting a ton of time in but he does need to review the one section as it isn’t intuitive for him like math/reading.
My rule of thumb has been submit your test score if it will bolster your application. If you have top scores and not great EC or LOR’s submit. If you had a “struggle” year (or two) but want to show that your are academically ready for college, submit.
But, if your application is already very strong, unless you have a top score, it’s probably not going to make it stronger. In that case, for many, it’s not worth the time they have to devote to it to even take the test.
Agreed. I found that the school counseling staff at my DS’s high school took him much more seriously once he had similar SAT results to your D, even though he has had top grades and class rank throughout high school (so far. He’s a junior).
Question wasn’t posed to me, but I do have an example…at recent tour of Boston College, my S24 and I had the distinct impression that they wanted scores. They agreed that the median score was inflated, but highly encouraged everyone to take the test and submit a score if you were happy with it. They said 2/3 submitted scores for their recent class. I had never heard this level of directness from an AO before, and I was impressed with their answer to this question. It made me wonder if other schools were looking at the scores in this way or if they were an outlier.
But the info for this year’s class (hs co 2023/Fall 2023 admits) won’t be available until next spring. In what seems like a rapidly changing environment that is later than preferred. The AO for the school would have the most up-to-date info (but no way to independently verify for 10 months).
Another important point here that benefits from additional support:
My DS attends a private school that is regionally accredited but not state accredited. In my state, that means that legally, he is considered homeschooled. I have to file with the local public school district twice a year until he graduates.
I submitted his SAT scores to the school district after he took them the first time before state-mandated testing had resumed statewide, along with his other required documentation. I received a note back with my approval expressing extra approval and support. I’ve got three approval periods left and plan to submit his most recent scores with that required submission. This saved him the trouble of having to take state tests during the school week, which meant that the test did not interrupt school as much as state required testing would have.
Another thought that just came up. If your kid has accommodations for testing and plans to apply for those accommodations in college, many colleges will look at the accommodations you’ve received from the College Board. In that case, it might be worth testing even if you don’t submit your scores. I’m not sure how that is done for someone that hasn’t taken the test.
That process may have changed or be in the process of changing now that more schools are test optional, but it might be something to look into.
They will not see the accommodations with the test scores, but those accommodations can be used later when asked what accommodations the student received in high school.
I think some of the decision concerning TO also depends on your high school and where other students are applying. My S23 is at a top suburban public school in MA where every year there are lots of students applying to the same elite colleges. (Would you believe that more than 50 students from the class of 2022 applied to Northeastern and Boston College? Over 10 applied to Dartmouth.) Most of the top 15% have high GPAs, leadership experience, stellar extracurriculars and volunteering experience. In other words, on paper they look fabulous but also similar to their peers. In this type of environment students are looking for any edge in admissions because they know AOs are going to view them in comparison to their peers at the same high school. Our guidance counselor believes that in the competitive environment of our school, high standardized test scores can absolutely make a difference in college admission. S23 was intent on having a stellar score to submit. He tends to be a great standardized test taker and didn’t have to study very hard for his score, so that certainly played a role in how he felt about it. He took the SAT twice and was done by spring of his junior year. D20 was before the TO boom, so she didn’t have much of a choice.
Unfortunately, this is the craziness of many MA suburban schools. Consider yourself lucky if your kid doesn’t have to worry about any of this.
And this is what all the college counselors told us. The high school counselor, on the other hand, pushed submitting test scores much more, or recommended my D not apply to certain schools without high scores.
My DS24 is a recruited athlete and we have found that at many (but not all) test optional high academic universities (top 20 schools), they expect the athletes (at least in my son’s sport) to take the SAT and have a minimum score to be considered for their program.