Which SLAC will go back to testing first?

[Anonymous]

Any guesses or information from podcasts you have heard regarding SLAC s going back to testing requirements like Dartmouth etc has?

[Anonymous]

Not sure why you would assume any would. If anything, the trend in the LAC world has been to make TO permanent (Amherst, Pomona, Vassar), and at some TO policies predated the pandemic (Bowdoin, Wesleyan).

But I guess maybe LACs in states where the public schools require test scores, like Florida, Texas, Georgia? Although giving students who want to attend school in those states a TO option seems advantageous, so maybe not.

The trend back toward testing will be among the most selective schools with the largest numbers of applicants—and even there, only some will do it, as the divergence among Ivy League schools makes clear.

[Anonymous]

None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

[Anonymous]

At most LACs, it never really was test-optional, unless you were uber-wealthy or filled some other special need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

I think that's correct. Schools where more than a third of students are athletes - Bowdoin, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, etc - are never going back to test mandatory. And some SLACs - Pomona, Oberlin, a few others - have made TO a kind of political or ideological red line.

But as more and more selective universities - Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Texas - go back to test mandatory with others sure to follow in the next year or two, it seems likely that SLACs will take a reputational hit for remaining TO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

I think that's correct. Schools where more than a third of students are athletes - Bowdoin, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, etc - are never going back to test mandatory. And some SLACs - Pomona, Oberlin, a few others - have made TO a kind of political or ideological red line.

But as more and more selective universities - Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Texas - go back to test mandatory with others sure to follow in the next year or two, it seems likely that SLACs will take a reputational hit for remaining TO.

Many SLACs were test optional prior to Covid (Bowdoin, Bates and Colby for example) - Bowdoin for several decades. Their reputations won’t be hurt by continuing to be what they were before Covid.

[Anonymous]

Maybe Harvey Mudd. But for most it will likely stay "test optional, but appreciated" for a few more years.

[Anonymous]

My guess is none of the athletically focused ones will - but I can see some pivoting to require testing for LEP majors, like CS or engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is none of the athletically focused ones will - but I can see some pivoting to require testing for LEP majors, like CS or engineering.

I can't see the elite ones making applicants declare a major. Being able to choose whatever classes you want is a very strong selling point for SLACs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Harvey Mudd. But for most it will likely stay "test optional, but appreciated" for a few more years.

If you think it’s temporary, you aren’t looking at the percentages of enrolled students submitting scores for most of these schools. Many are sub-50%. The idea that they’re going to return to test-required when the majority of the students they’re enrolling aren’t submitting scores is delusional; if they thought test scores were so important, they wouldn’t accept so many students without scores. The schools that are returning to test required never dipped below 75-80% of enrolled students submitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

I think that's correct. Schools where more than a third of students are athletes - Bowdoin, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, etc - are never going back to test mandatory. And some SLACs - Pomona, Oberlin, a few others - have made TO a kind of political or ideological red line.

But as more and more selective universities - Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Texas - go back to test mandatory with others sure to follow in the next year or two, it seems likely that SLACs will take a reputational hit for remaining TO.

Strongly disagree. I believe selective TO schools will continue to see growth in applications. As some institutions do away with TO, I expect the growth to accelerate. This will in turn boost selectivity and yield — the result will be a reputational boost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

I think that's correct. Schools where more than a third of students are athletes - Bowdoin, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, etc - are never going back to test mandatory. And some SLACs - Pomona, Oberlin, a few others - have made TO a kind of political or ideological red line.

But as more and more selective universities - Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Texas - go back to test mandatory with others sure to follow in the next year or two, it seems likely that SLACs will take a reputational hit for remaining TO.

Many SLACs were test optional prior to Covid (Bowdoin, Bates and Colby for example) - Bowdoin for several decades. Their reputations won’t be hurt by continuing to be what they were before Covid.

THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None. The most selective ones (Williams, Amherst) have an absurd percentage of athletes and have no incentive to go test required.

I think that's correct. Schools where more than a third of students are athletes - Bowdoin, Amherst, Bates, Colby, Haverford, Swarthmore, Williams, etc - are never going back to test mandatory. And some SLACs - Pomona, Oberlin, a few others - have made TO a kind of political or ideological red line.

But as more and more selective universities - Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, Texas - go back to test mandatory with others sure to follow in the next year or two, it seems likely that SLACs will take a reputational hit for remaining TO.

Yeah, this. These are also schools committed to DEI principles, Supreme Court or no Supreme Court decision. And they want first gen students. They have a few reasons for preserving the status quo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is none of the athletically focused ones will - but I can see some pivoting to require testing for LEP majors, like CS or engineering.

I can't see the elite ones making applicants declare a major. Being able to choose whatever classes you want is a very strong selling point for SLACs

Not at Pomona … they don’t have the resources for CS and Harvey Mudd can’t or no longer wants to accommodate them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is none of the athletically focused ones will - but I can see some pivoting to require testing for LEP majors, like CS or engineering.

I can't see the elite ones making applicants declare a major. Being able to choose whatever classes you want is a very strong selling point for SLACs

My thought was W&M might do this - it is a less traditional LAC.