For applicants this coming Fall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:which Ivies remain ACT?SAT optional?

Harvard
Columbia
Princeton
Cornell
Penn

?

The ones that remain "optional" in name are only truly optional for certain demographics (FGLI, underserved school, URM--yes they can tell by essay topics). None of these have been test optional for private schools and top publics /magnets /etc. This is per the heads of private school college counseling who have told parents and applicants the last two cycles that test scores are expected for ivy/ivy+ for unhooked applicants. Only 2021 applicants were treated as truly TO: the tide started to quietly change with 2022, and they gave examples of colleges contacting them to ask for the student to please send scores if available(Williams, Dartmouth and other schools did this to students we know from 2022).

OP here. Thank you. My kid is in an under-performing inner city public HS in Los Angeles.

One of the big reasons selective schools are going back to test mandatory is because smart kids from under-performing inner city public high schools weren't applying anymore. TO has overwhelmingly benefitted rich private school kids from the burbs who can afford to load up on expensive ECs and tutoring. And consequently, those that do submit scores have pushed test averages into the stratosphere. Underprivileged kids who will never get those scores and who don't have the money for the tutoring and the ECs ended up not applying at all.

Selective colleges aren't dumb. To use a local to the DMV example, colleges very much know that a kid scoring a 1310 from Ballou High School is generally going to be a far more impressive individual than a student with a 1510 from Sidwell Friends. And they want those students to apply. The origin of the SAT was to level the playing field so that smart kids from all circumstances would have a chance at selective colleges. So it's a good thing that universities are finally moving back to requiring those test scores.

Going forward, test optionality really is going to be just for the donor families and some athletes. Even URMs and the underprivileged are going to be expected to submit scores. Every applicant is going to be measured in the context of their circumstances, which allows selective colleges to build the class they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:which Ivies remain ACT?SAT optional?

Harvard
Columbia
Princeton
Cornell
Penn

?

The ones that remain "optional" in name are only truly optional for certain demographics (FGLI, underserved school, URM--yes they can tell by essay topics). None of these have been test optional for private schools and top publics /magnets /etc. This is per the heads of private school college counseling who have told parents and applicants the last two cycles that test scores are expected for ivy/ivy+ for unhooked applicants. Only 2021 applicants were treated as truly TO: the tide started to quietly change with 2022, and they gave examples of colleges contacting them to ask for the student to please send scores if available(Williams, Dartmouth and other schools did this to students we know from 2022).

OP here. Thank you. My kid is in an under-performing inner city public HS in Los Angeles.

One of the big reasons selective schools are going back to test mandatory is because smart kids from under-performing inner city public high schools weren't applying anymore. TO has overwhelmingly benefitted rich private school kids from the burbs who can afford to load up on expensive ECs and tutoring. And consequently, those that do submit scores have pushed test averages into the stratosphere. Underprivileged kids who will never get those scores and who don't have the money for the tutoring and the ECs ended up not applying at all.

Selective colleges aren't dumb. To use a local to the DMV example, colleges very much know that a kid scoring a 1310 from Ballou High School is generally going to be a far more impressive individual than a student with a 1510 from Sidwell Friends. And they want those students to apply. The origin of the SAT was to level the playing field so that smart kids from all circumstances would have a chance at selective colleges. So it's a good thing that universities are finally moving back to requiring those test scores.

Going forward, test optionality really is going to be just for the donor families and some athletes. Even URMs and the underprivileged are going to be expected to submit scores. Every applicant is going to be measured in the context of their circumstances, which allows selective colleges to build the class they want.

You wasted your time here. I'm the OP and I am fully aware of all this. I can read and its not news.