Per NYT, Yale now “test flexible”

[Anonymous]

Do we think this will help kids at rigorous private schools with grade deflation who have high test scores? Seems like it will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say make the kids submit all their test scores, like Georgetown does. Do away with superscoring. Colleges can elect to consider whatever they like, but at least they have an accurate full picture.

What I always ask: Why do YOU get to decide? Don’t you think he professionals in admissions who run the colleges know better than you do?

I personally like test scores and think they are valuable, but I don’t kid myself that they are absolute predictors of success and I certainly don’t think I know more than the professionals. They get to decide how to best build the class they need to meet their goals. Like every job. That’s how it should be.

DP. This is one of the dumbest takes on DCUM that pops up in all sorts of areas. This is an anonymous forum, we get to opine and discuss. And we are also big stakeholders in the process so it’s natural that we would have relatively informed opinions. Not sure why you are so literal minded as to think PP expressing their informed opinion means they somehow don’t understand that the school makes the decision ultimately?

Lol... so YOUR opinion is fine but mine is dumb?

I'll let that speak for itself.

No one is debating that they GET to decide. You are suggesting you know better than they do what is best, and I am suggesting the professionals know WAY better than you.

I'll stick with that too.

So your argument is basically that nobody can have a useful opinion on a policy unless they are directly in charge of that policy. Do I have that right?

[Anonymous]

All of these similar threads seem to reveal the same things:

1) People need to believe that their kid’s high test score means that they are a special genius
2) people believe that colleges are only interested in high test scores
3) people need to believe that the reason their kid didn’t get in their school of choice is that some unqualified, low-scoring kid from a school with a lot of grade inflation got their kid’s spot by applying test optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say make the kids submit all their test scores, like Georgetown does. Do away with superscoring. Colleges can elect to consider whatever they like, but at least they have an accurate full picture.

What I always ask: Why do YOU get to decide? Don’t you think he professionals in admissions who run the colleges know better than you do?

I personally like test scores and think they are valuable, but I don’t kid myself that they are absolute predictors of success and I certainly don’t think I know more than the professionals. They get to decide how to best build the class they need to meet their goals. Like every job. That’s how it should be.

DP. This is one of the dumbest takes on DCUM that pops up in all sorts of areas. This is an anonymous forum, we get to opine and discuss. And we are also big stakeholders in the process so it’s natural that we would have relatively informed opinions. Not sure why you are so literal minded as to think PP expressing their informed opinion means they somehow don’t understand that the school makes the decision ultimately?

Lol... so YOUR opinion is fine but mine is dumb?

I'll let that speak for itself.

No one is debating that they GET to decide. You are suggesting you know better than they do what is best, and I am suggesting the professionals know WAY better than you.

I'll stick with that too.

So your argument is basically that nobody can have a useful opinion on a policy unless they are directly in charge of that policy. Do I have that right?

No, they can have an opinion. As can I about theirs. And my opinion is they don't know what they are talking about.

Ever been on a plane? Give me your opinions on aircraft maintenance. That's about as informed and useful as "I say make the kids submit all their test scores".

[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.

SAT has more time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recall on the Dartmouth Admissions Beat Podcast, the dean from Dartmouth said they were going ‘test preferred’, they’ve since announced will be required. He then asked the Yale AO his opinion and Yale AO said he thought TO was ‘here to stay.’ Dartmouth AO was surprised by that. So quite the change for Yale, granted it’s not just SAT/ACT that they will consider. I think test required will be coming back to state schools bc on a whole, their admissions are less holistic.

Actually, the Yale AO said that they have found test score to be the biggest predictor of success at Yale and that when someone doesn't submit scores, they assume the scores are low. So not a contradiction.

[Anonymous]

Is this even news?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I say make the kids submit all their test scores, like Georgetown does. Do away with superscoring. Colleges can elect to consider whatever they like, but at least they have an accurate full picture.

Colleges can also elect to be TO or Test Blind. Many do feel they have an accurate full picture, even without test scores. There are some who were moving to Test Blind well before covid and will never change, as they feel they get the best class this method

[Anonymous]

Where’s the poster who always screeches about test optional being here to stay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say make the kids submit all their test scores, like Georgetown does. Do away with superscoring. Colleges can elect to consider whatever they like, but at least they have an accurate full picture.

What I always ask: Why do YOU get to decide? Don’t you think he professionals in admissions who run the colleges know better than you do?

I personally like test scores and think they are valuable, but I don’t kid myself that they are absolute predictors of success and I certainly don’t think I know more than the professionals. They get to decide how to best build the class they need to meet their goals. Like every job. That’s how it should be.

DP. This is one of the dumbest takes on DCUM that pops up in all sorts of areas. This is an anonymous forum, we get to opine and discuss. And we are also big stakeholders in the process so it’s natural that we would have relatively informed opinions. Not sure why you are so literal minded as to think PP expressing their informed opinion means they somehow don’t understand that the school makes the decision ultimately?

Lol... so YOUR opinion is fine but mine is dumb?

I'll let that speak for itself.

No one is debating that they GET to decide. You are suggesting you know better than they do what is best, and I am suggesting the professionals know WAY better than you.

I'll stick with that too.

So your argument is basically that nobody can have a useful opinion on a policy unless they are directly in charge of that policy. Do I have that right?

No, they can have an opinion. As can I about theirs. And my opinion is they don't know what they are talking about.

Ever been on a plane? Give me your opinions on aircraft maintenance. That's about as informed and useful as "I say make the kids submit all their test scores".

Your ONLY argument here is “school admissions officials know better than you do,” used shut down a line or type of argument you dislike. It’s a transparently vacuous way to argue that effectively allows you to rebut ANYTHING anyone says on the grounds “you are not a professional in that area.” It’s like a very stupid HS debate tactic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I say make the kids submit all their test scores, like Georgetown does. Do away with superscoring. Colleges can elect to consider whatever they like, but at least they have an accurate full picture.

Colleges can also elect to be TO or Test Blind. Many do feel they have an accurate full picture, even without test scores. There are some who were moving to Test Blind well before covid and will never change, as they feel they get the best class this method

Never say never, test blind works poorly in times of massive grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where’s the poster who always screeches about test optional being here to stay?

probably the one screeching “you’re not an admissions officer, you know nothing!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems to be an ideal outcome. Require testing, but it can be AP or IB scores.

“The entire admissions office staff is keenly aware of the research on the correlations between standardized test scores and household income as well as the persistent gaps by race,” Jeremiah Quinlan, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, said in a statement to the Yale community. “Our experience, however, is that including test scores as one component of a thoughtful whole-person review process can help increase the diversity of the student body rather than decrease it.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of these similar threads seem to reveal the same things:

1) People need to believe that their kid’s high test score means that they are a special genius
2) people believe that colleges are only interested in high test scores
3) people need to believe that the reason their kid didn’t get in their school of choice is that some unqualified, low-scoring kid from a school with a lot of grade inflation got their kid’s spot by applying test optional.

I don’t think that’s true at all. I think we just want colleges to consider all aspects of our kids’ abilities. I also personally think TO misses a lot of kids with a discrepancy between IQ and grades/ECs/school privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Class of ‘24 got a bad hand.

I like to think they are looking a little more closely at test scores this cycle--even if not 'officially'. One can hope.