Harvard will require Test Scores starting next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not really. My DD got a letter with brochure a month ago from Harvard because of her psat score I would guess.

It explicitly said TO is an option. Odd to say the least to have such a short notice.

I don’t think we will get a letter saying sorry actually it’s back to testing?

Actually my DC got an email from Harvard this morning announcing that update. DC one and done at 36.

My dd isn’t signed up with email and we are also not one and done. So for us this hits differently as she is in the midst of the full ib diploma. Her school is low performing, she is in a niche program. For us this means grinding it out. She thought a fairly good psat would be enough. It’s all back to time management. Our summer will suffer. Work life balance also. It’s not really holistic the way I thought it to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

why is this late? the SAT is a test of the most basic English and Math skills. If you need months and months of prep on topics you should have already mastered, you probably have bigger problems than the application deadlines next fall.

mostly bcs may and June seats are full

Well presumably any kid applying to Harvard has already registered or taken the SAT/ACT.

They just didn’t submit their scores. So now they’ll have to.

Will they have already taken it twice, as many juniors have already who had such plans, thereby giving them a third or fourth sitting to look forward to in June and August? Harvard could have said no superscores for class of 2025 if they insisted on renouncing their established policy so late.

Everyone is in the same boat. The kids who have taken it 2-3 times already are on the ball and will get the advantage (and that's not a bad thing).

You might forget that we have the Dsat now a different test from the paper version of last year. Kids had only one opportunity to take that test. Pretty much people who are set are using old tests.

[Anonymous]

It’s just another data point bc you can no longer look at GPA and know if a student is well prepared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not really. My DD got a letter with brochure a month ago from Harvard because of her psat score I would guess.

It explicitly said TO is an option. Odd to say the least to have such a short notice.

I don’t think we will get a letter saying sorry actually it’s back to testing?

Actually my DC got an email from Harvard this morning announcing that update. DC one and done at 36.

My dd isn’t signed up with email and we are also not one and done. So for us this hits differently as she is in the midst of the full ib diploma. Her school is low performing, she is in a niche program. For us this means grinding it out. She thought a fairly good psat would be enough. It’s all back to time management. Our summer will suffer. Work life balance also. It’s not really holistic the way I thought it to be.

Confused—you thought a PSAT score would be enough? That isn’t on the common app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

why is this late? the SAT is a test of the most basic English and Math skills. If you need months and months of prep on topics you should have already mastered, you probably have bigger problems than the application deadlines next fall.

mostly bcs may and June seats are full

Well presumably any kid applying to Harvard has already registered or taken the SAT/ACT.

They just didn’t submit their scores. So now they’ll have to.

Will they have already taken it twice, as many juniors have already who had such plans, thereby giving them a third or fourth sitting to look forward to in June and August? Harvard could have said no superscores for class of 2025 if they insisted on renouncing their established policy so late.

Everyone is in the same boat. The kids who have taken it 2-3 times already are on the ball and will get the advantage (and that's not a bad thing).

You might forget that we have the Dsat now a different test from the paper version of last year. Kids had only one opportunity to take that test. Pretty much people who are set are using old tests.

Mine took one of each and is done. Isn’t Harvard going to super score paper and digital? Why would it matter which you took?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

why is this late? the SAT is a test of the most basic English and Math skills. If you need months and months of prep on topics you should have already mastered, you probably have bigger problems than the application deadlines next fall.

mostly bcs may and June seats are full

Well presumably any kid applying to Harvard has already registered or taken the SAT/ACT.

They just didn’t submit their scores. So now they’ll have to.

Will they have already taken it twice, as many juniors have already who had such plans, thereby giving them a third or fourth sitting to look forward to in June and August? Harvard could have said no superscores for class of 2025 if they insisted on renouncing their established policy so late.

Everyone is in the same boat. The kids who have taken it 2-3 times already are on the ball and will get the advantage (and that's not a bad thing).

You might forget that we have the Dsat now a different test from the paper version of last year. Kids had only one opportunity to take that test. Pretty much people who are set are using old tests.

Curious—do you think the paper is easier than the digital SAT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not really. My DD got a letter with brochure a month ago from Harvard because of her psat score I would guess.

It explicitly said TO is an option. Odd to say the least to have such a short notice.

I don’t think we will get a letter saying sorry actually it’s back to testing?

Actually my DC got an email from Harvard this morning announcing that update. DC one and done at 36.

My dd isn’t signed up with email and we are also not one and done. So for us this hits differently as she is in the midst of the full ib diploma. Her school is low performing, she is in a niche program. For us this means grinding it out. She thought a fairly good psat would be enough. It’s all back to time management. Our summer will suffer. Work life balance also. It’s not really holistic the way I thought it to be.

Confused—you thought a PSAT score would be enough? That isn’t on the common app.

She got a reward for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

why is this late? the SAT is a test of the most basic English and Math skills. If you need months and months of prep on topics you should have already mastered, you probably have bigger problems than the application deadlines next fall.

mostly bcs may and June seats are full

Well presumably any kid applying to Harvard has already registered or taken the SAT/ACT.

They just didn’t submit their scores. So now they’ll have to.

Will they have already taken it twice, as many juniors have already who had such plans, thereby giving them a third or fourth sitting to look forward to in June and August? Harvard could have said no superscores for class of 2025 if they insisted on renouncing their established policy so late.

Everyone is in the same boat. The kids who have taken it 2-3 times already are on the ball and will get the advantage (and that's not a bad thing).

You might forget that we have the Dsat now a different test from the paper version of last year. Kids had only one opportunity to take that test. Pretty much people who are set are using old tests.

Curious—do you think the paper is easier than the digital SAT?

Have you followed how hard math module 2 was? I am talking top scorers. There were kids coming out with a 680 who already had an 800 paper grade.

[Anonymous]

You can see the number of graduates by major in the CDS. I wonder when the the college class of 2025 CDS results come out, if we see a drop on STEM majors at elite schools. Because the average Harvard student has like a 3.7, so they’re not failing out, but they’re probably not majoring in something difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Not really. My DD got a letter with brochure a month ago from Harvard because of her psat score I would guess.

It explicitly said TO is an option. Odd to say the least to have such a short notice.

I don’t think we will get a letter saying sorry actually it’s back to testing?

Actually my DC got an email from Harvard this morning announcing that update. DC one and done at 36.

My dd isn’t signed up with email and we are also not one and done. So for us this hits differently as she is in the midst of the full ib diploma. Her school is low performing, she is in a niche program. For us this means grinding it out. She thought a fairly good psat would be enough. It’s all back to time management. Our summer will suffer. Work life balance also. It’s not really holistic the way I thought it to be.

Confused—you thought a PSAT score would be enough? That isn’t on the common app.

National recognition programs are based on PSAT score. Anecdotally, for a couple of years, at some schools, going TO but having a recognition program in the academic awards section was a winning formula.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

From what I've read, UC admissions policies are heavily based on their own research and not the whims of politicians. They found they didn't need the SAT after studying the issue.

UChicago has similarly not let politics drive the decision. They went TO in 2018.

You have it almost completely backwards. The UC system got a bunch of faculty to research whether the SAT should be used for college admission. The UC researchers determined that it was the single best predictor of college performance and recommended keeping it. Janet Napolitano as the president of the University of California decided to ignore this and eliminate the tests.

[Anonymous]

I mean, this just makes a ton of sense. I’m Asian but didn’t have an especially good SAT score and didn’t prep (in the 90s). It makes zero sense to lower every barrier to entry to our most elite schools. Do they want the best and brightest, or just a random sampling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

ED to Tulane.

Tulane Class of 2027 enrolled students average SAT is 1448 and ACT is 33. Not sure Tulane is happening with a 1390.

Oh please. If Tulane required all students to submit SAT or ACT scores the avg. would be closer to 1228 and 31. Only kids with 1300+ submit SATs and the university says a 'majority' of 2027s did not submit (but what won't say what percent - why?).

Average (recalculated & unweighted) GPA: 3.7
Average SAT: 1448*
Average ACT: 33*

*Submitting SAT or ACT scores is optional at Tulane. For the Class of 2027, a majority of enrolling students did not submit test scores.

[Anonymous]

What do we think is the new 25% of range?
I think it is 1490 with TO. How far does it come down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do we think is the new 25% of range?
I think it is 1490 with TO. How far does it come down?

Just look at 2019 numbers.