Per NYT, Yale now “test flexible”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or attend one of the many, many schools that remain test optional.

Not for too much longer. I expect Emory, Vandy, Duke to follow suite by next year or so.

That’s interesting that you named the schools who accept the most students test optional. I think it’s working for them, especially Vanderbilt.

Emory admissions director said he doesn't like teat optional, and if/when the go back to required I believe Duke and Vandy will follow as it would look bad for there nearest peer to in theory be more selective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or attend one of the many, many schools that remain test optional.

Not for too much longer. I expect Emory, Vandy, Duke to follow suite by next year or so.

That’s interesting that you named the schools who accept the most students test optional. I think it’s working for them, especially Vanderbilt.

Vandy is very sensitive to what looks prestigious, and very sensitive to the way they lose dual-admits to Duke. I’d predict that if Duke goes back to test-required or test-flexible, so will Vandy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea I like this, best of both worlds

I think this kind of test flexible policy is going to take off. Lets the schools keep lower scores out of their profile while still ensuring that the kids they enroll are academically qualified.

+1, it gives students options as well. The ACT and AP exams were difficult for me but the SAT seemed to be the best format with my highest score. It allows students to see which teat they're good at.

It is odd that AP tests were harder for you vs the SAT. AP tests are very straightforward…they don’t ask trick questions nor ask you any questions concerning topics outside of the AP curriculum.

Also, for many tests an 80% or higher is a 5 and for some of the harder STEM tests it’s 70% or higher.

[Anonymous]

The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

Sure they matter…Yale and Dartmouth are telling you they matter even today, and most top schools also think they matter even if they still are TO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

I am confident that my student's 1500 not only mattered in admission - but got him merit aid this year.
The only places it did not matter were schools that were test free - and stated up front they would not consider it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

I am confident that my student's 1500 not only mattered in admission - but got him merit aid this year.
The only places it did not matter were schools that were test free - and stated up front they would not consider it.

I will see next month if it's true for my kid. He was accepted to a top 20 school EA and told he was accepted 2 months early to a RD school. Those are they only early apps he did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea I like this, best of both worlds

I think this kind of test flexible policy is going to take off. Lets the schools keep lower scores out of their profile while still ensuring that the kids they enroll are academically qualified.

+1, it gives students options as well. The ACT and AP exams were difficult for me but the SAT seemed to be the best format with my highest score. It allows students to see which teat they're good at.

It is odd that AP tests were harder for you vs the SAT. AP tests are very straightforward…they don’t ask trick questions nor ask you any questions concerning topics outside of the AP curriculum.

Also, for many tests an 80% or higher is a 5 and for some of the harder STEM tests it’s 70% or higher.

This is misleading. The percentage of students scoring 5s is much more relevant and AP scores depend much more on the quality of the high school. My kid does not go to a great high school (MCPS) and the students do not do well on AP tests. She did well but had to self study for the ones she took junior year. For the first one she took sophomore year she took an outside prep class/tutor so she would learn how to write the essays. At better high schools this is not necessary. She did submit her AP scores but many people in her school didn’t because their scores were low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea I like this, best of both worlds

I think this kind of test flexible policy is going to take off. Lets the schools keep lower scores out of their profile while still ensuring that the kids they enroll are academically qualified.

+1, it gives students options as well. The ACT and AP exams were difficult for me but the SAT seemed to be the best format with my highest score. It allows students to see which teat they're good at.

It is odd that AP tests were harder for you vs the SAT. AP tests are very straightforward…they don’t ask trick questions nor ask you any questions concerning topics outside of the AP curriculum.

Also, for many tests an 80% or higher is a 5 and for some of the harder STEM tests it’s 70% or higher.

This is misleading. The percentage of students scoring 5s is much more relevant and AP scores depend much more on the quality of the high school. My kid does not go to a great high school (MCPS) and the students do not do well on AP tests. She did well but had to self study for the ones she took junior year. For the first one she took sophomore year she took an outside prep class/tutor so she would learn how to write the essays. At better high schools this is not necessary. She did submit her AP scores but many people in her school didn’t because their scores were low.

Then, your school isn't as good as you think it is and the discrepancy in scores vs classroom grade tells you your school seriously grade inflates. Colleges are catching on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea I like this, best of both worlds

I think this kind of test flexible policy is going to take off. Lets the schools keep lower scores out of their profile while still ensuring that the kids they enroll are academically qualified.

+1, it gives students options as well. The ACT and AP exams were difficult for me but the SAT seemed to be the best format with my highest score. It allows students to see which teat they're good at.

It is odd that AP tests were harder for you vs the SAT. AP tests are very straightforward…they don’t ask trick questions nor ask you any questions concerning topics outside of the AP curriculum.

Also, for many tests an 80% or higher is a 5 and for some of the harder STEM tests it’s 70% or higher.

This is misleading. The percentage of students scoring 5s is much more relevant and AP scores depend much more on the quality of the high school. My kid does not go to a great high school (MCPS) and the students do not do well on AP tests. She did well but had to self study for the ones she took junior year. For the first one she took sophomore year she took an outside prep class/tutor so she would learn how to write the essays. At better high schools this is not necessary. She did submit her AP scores but many people in her school didn’t because their scores were low.

Then, your school isn't as good as you think it is and the discrepancy in scores vs classroom grade tells you your school seriously grade inflates. Colleges are catching on.

Sorry^ I did not mean 'you' personally...I mean a lot of MoCO parents with 4.7 gpa kids that can't score 4/5s on Ap exams.

[Anonymous]

Most high schools are now set up to reward diligence and persistence more than a full grasp of the material. I've seen programs that give kids 10 or more chances to get an answer right without any grading penalty. That's fine because diligence and persistence should be rewarded, but if universities want to figure out if kids grasp the material at a certain level, they must rely on testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

I am confident that my student's 1500 not only mattered in admission - but got him merit aid this year.
The only places it did not matter were schools that were test free - and stated up front they would not consider it.

Can you share the name of the school? I have a high scoring junior and will be looking for merit next year...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

Everybody is really missing the point here. The point of reinstating scores is not to let in more high-scoring white kids from upper middleclass suburbs. In fact, it is the opposite. Reinstating required testing will allow the average test scores to go back down to reasonable levels for admission. Understand: these schools do not admit students on a sliding scale, starting with the perfect scores and going down from there. They are simply looking at test scores to ensure that students whose grades and schools do not give a complete picture can submit a test score to indicate whether they are capable of doing the work. For almost every single school in America a 1400 or even a 1350 (gasp) is plenty high. So now, underprileged students can submit those scores. During test optional, they weren't, so they were being left out. This change DOES NOT advantage high test scorers. And that's a good thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony. My senior --5s on all APs, 36 ACT. The year scores don't matter.

I have a sophomore--hope he is a high test scorer too. lol

Things that could help always seem to change after the fact for us.

Everybody is really missing the point here. The point of reinstating scores is not to let in more high-scoring white kids from upper middleclass suburbs. In fact, it is the opposite. Reinstating required testing will allow the average test scores to go back down to reasonable levels for admission. Understand: these schools do not admit students on a sliding scale, starting with the perfect scores and going down from there. They are simply looking at test scores to ensure that students whose grades and schools do not give a complete picture can submit a test score to indicate whether they are capable of doing the work. For almost every single school in America a 1400 or even a 1350 (gasp) is plenty high. So now, underprileged students can submit those scores. During test optional, they weren't, so they were being left out. This change DOES NOT advantage high test scorers. And that's a good thing!

Correct. It's to let in naturally intelligent kids vs book smart/tutored up the wazoo borderline intelligence kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most high schools are now set up to reward diligence and persistence more than a full grasp of the material. I've seen programs that give kids 10 or more chances to get an answer right without any grading penalty. That's fine because diligence and persistence should be rewarded, but if universities want to figure out if kids grasp the material at a certain level, they must rely on testing.

Thanks for explaining this. I am just starting to figure this out with one extremely bright but unmotivated 6th grader in MS … nothing seems to matter other than keeping track of the 8 million different platforms to submit work on! It’s gonna be a long 6 years …