Harvard will require Test Scores starting next year

[Anonymous]

Great news-can they package up all the other woke nonsense with modern day admissions and start taking high stats kids that deserve to be there again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

[Anonymous]

We know - its been discussed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

CA schools didn't go TO because of covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

some experiments arise out of necessity

[Anonymous]

95% will STILL get rejected.

Yawn.

[Anonymous]

this is for current Juniors? my kid has no interest in Harvard, but this seems really really late to make this call for this class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

some experiments arise out of necessity

I think test optional doesn't make sense for the most selective and most popular institutions. But for others I think it still makes sense to let students present themselves with the information they feel most reflects their strengths. I think it should go back to how it was pre-Covid--with some institutions being test optional and with going test optional being a relative rarity rather the decision to go optional becoming a sort of overall game theory type decision for all students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

CA schools didn't go TO because of covid.

Am genuinely curious how the UC's are going to respond to the changes. UCLA had almost 145k applicants this year! Cal Berkeley had 125k applicants. Those numbers are... wild.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this is for current Juniors? my kid has no interest in Harvard, but this seems really really late to make this call for this class

Any student considering applying to Harvard has already tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yep.
Whatever will the 4/4.6 1390 poor test-taking children of DCUM do?

Same as always. They were not getting into T20/Harvard in droves in the TO era.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, obviously. The test optional thing was a weird experiment and there is no evidence that it accomplished anything useful, and some evidence it was genuinely detrimental. Good riddance.

Being good at taking tests is not the most important thing in life and everyone should remind themselves of that. But it turns out that people who do test well, and are able to get very high scores on college preparedness tests, tend to also do best in college, where they will also be expected to regularly take tests. It's okay that not everyone goes to an Ivy, or becomes a lawyer or doctor or academic or MBA or whatever. It's not the only option in life.

Just realize that Harvard isn't going to accept your kids with a 1580 over one with a 1500 based on the SAT alone. They will consider them "the same"/made the cut, and then look at everything else. I don't think requiring tests will have the effect most "high stats" parents want.
Fact is T20 schools only want to see your kid meet a baseline for the testing, then they still want to look at everything else. A 1600 doesn't differentiate your kid from a 1520 kid really.
These schools will still be highly rejective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

CA schools didn't go TO because of covid.

Am genuinely curious how the UC's are going to respond to the changes. UCLA had almost 145k applicants this year! Cal Berkeley had 125k applicants. Those numbers are... wild.

UC schools went Test Blind completely independent of Covid. I am fine with Test Blind or Test Required, but TO has been the absolute worst.

Supposedly, they are creating their own test...not sure if that is still happening or what. I don't see them ever returning to SAT/ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:test optional was a failed experiment

it wasn't an experiment it was due to testing centers closing during the pandemic

some experiments arise out of necessity

I think test optional doesn't make sense for the most selective and most popular institutions. But for others I think it still makes sense to let students present themselves with the information they feel most reflects their strengths. I think it should go back to how it was pre-Covid--with some institutions being test optional and with going test optional being a relative rarity rather the decision to go optional becoming a sort of overall game theory type decision for all students.

Guessing it's potentially a bit different for public institutions -- given CA's experience with lawsuits and the public interest and whatnot

[Anonymous]

To be expected.