Is it just me or test score will be more important than ever this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"However, Yale’s statement today that test scores are more important than anything else ... [/b]."

Yale did not say that!

Trump is demanding admissions data for his DEI narrative. Top scores w/grades will dominate this cycle.

Huh? No not at all. All the colleges have to show is that there isn't a difference in scores across races, not that everyone has a 1600. This is such a poor understanding of the administration's goals.

So you are saying the average SAT score is the same across races?
Is there a difference in who gets in test optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Educators hate the College Board and the choke hold they have on people who don’t understand what they’ve done to education.

Listen to educators instead of championing the company trying to turn education into one high stakes test after another, like in other countries.

Just about every other country does this and it for good reason.
Some of these countries even have race based affirmative action but they still base admissions decisions largely on test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"However, Yale’s statement today that test scores are more important than anything else ... [/b]."

Yale did not say that!

Trump is demanding admissions data for his DEI narrative. Top scores w/grades will dominate this cycle.

Huh? No not at all. All the colleges have to show is that there isn't a difference in scores across races, not that everyone has a 1600. This is such a poor understanding of the administration's goals.

So you are saying the average SAT score is the same across races?
Is there a difference in who gets in test optional.

Huh? That’s not what I said. I said that’s what the administration wants. It’s a notable goal to not have differences in scores across races, and hopefully the ivies do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Educators hate the College Board and the choke hold they have on people who don’t understand what they’ve done to education.

Listen to educators instead of championing the company trying to turn education into one high stakes test after another, like in other countries.

Just about every other country does this and it for good reason.
Some of these countries even have race based affirmative action but they still base admissions decisions largely on test scores.

Well other countries have a shared education system and much fewer private schools. When we tried common core, suddenly America was “communist.” The US system is a catastrophe compared to many developed peers, because we don’t have a standardized system built by the government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Vandy and WashU always love high score applicants albeit still TO.
Columbia just settled with Trump. Unless they want to lose their funding again.

Agree the chilling effect would be most pronounced on test required schools.
Cornell
Brown
Dartmouth
Penn
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins

So what?

It's hard to get accepted to those schools anyways. Tests won't significantly change that dynamic.

If a high score raises your odds of admission from 2% to 4%, it doubles your odds of admission.

Based on a 2024 analysis of over 600,000 applications to ivy+ shows a 10-15% chance of admission to one of the schools with a 1500 SAT; 15-25% chance of admissions with a 1540 SAT; and 25-35% with a 1590 SAT score. If your SAT score was 1430, your chance of admission was about 5% This did not take into consideration any other factor about the student.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Vandy and WashU always love high score applicants albeit still TO.
Columbia just settled with Trump. Unless they want to lose their funding again.

Agree the chilling effect would be most pronounced on test required schools.
Cornell
Brown
Dartmouth
Penn
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins

So what?

It's hard to get accepted to those schools anyways. Tests won't significantly change that dynamic.

If a high score raises your odds of admission from 2% to 4%, it doubles your odds of admission.

Probability not odds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It always was at the schools my kids applied, are applying to.

All were not required for my 2024, but if he didn’t have top scores he would never have gotten in unhooked RD to all the schools he did- the T10s, 20s because optional at those schools weren’t for kids like him- wealthy area, good high school, etc. Over 80-85% admitted submitted scores and optional was for athletes and other “special” admits.

My 2026’s top choice is test required, so yes very important—-esp. with Trump reviewing the data …barf.

^100% this. If your profile means you have the means to test prep, test, etc. They want the scores at the top schools (required or not). TO is only used to capture special interest at T10/20 (TO)- athletes, specific groups, etc. Everyone else admitted submits scores now.

Not last year.
Non-DMV (not California) private.
Test optional and admitted to 4 T25

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s just one data point. Not having it may hurt you at some supposed test optional schools, but not all.

My kid got into 3 of the schools listed in an earlier part of this thread, all top 25 schools, test optional in the last cycle. I think major may have had something to do with it.

You cannot be test optional as a stem or business student at a competitive school. Also, you have to have something else in your profile to compensate for lack of a test score. Something unique that stands out. Something defining.

Same for us last cycle.
Agree major is important.

[Anonymous]

it’s a directional reversal, to say the least

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

? Then why would the be test optional. Over 31% of northwestern’s admits were test optional. Only 30% of note dame class even submitted test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

This is simply not true - I know of 1300 scorers attending Northwestern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

? Then why would the be test optional. Over 31% of northwestern’s admits were test optional. Only 30% of note dame class even submitted test scores.

My private school full pay kid got in test optional to northwestern.

We know many who got in test optional to Notre dame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

? Then why would the be test optional. Over 31% of northwestern’s admits were test optional. Only 30% of note dame class even submitted test scores.

Actually over 60% of ND admits submitted scores. Athletes, FGLI, etc. make up most of the balance. Legacy doesn’t weigh anymore - there is an oversaturation of high stat legacy kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think so for the schools that have historically been test optional for large swaths (athletes, donors, legacy) or others. Schools like the below:

Duke
Northwestern
UChicago
Columbia
UCLA
Cal
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Michigan
WashU
USC

Look at all the SLACs...there is no scrutiny there AND they are almost all uber TO (Amherst, Pomona, Bowdoin, Midd, Davidson, Barnard etc)

Northwestern and Notre Dame only admit top stat kids. They aren't admitting the test optional kids, just the high scores

? Then why would the be test optional. Over 31% of northwestern’s admits were test optional. Only 30% of note dame class even submitted test scores.

Actually over 60% of ND admits submitted scores. Athletes, FGLI, etc. make up most of the balance. Legacy doesn’t weigh anymore - there is an oversaturation of high stat legacy kids.

Here is the link to Notre Dame's Common Data Set: https://www3.nd.edu/~instres/CDS/2024-2025/CDS_2024-2025.pdf
According to their data, 684 submitted SAT scores and 541 submitted ACT scores, so 58% of enrolled students.