Apply Test Optional if Score is at 25%-35% of range, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, our schools are not highly competitive for top students. I have an average student who wants to get into the safeties of top students. Still, their scores are at the low end but still within the middle 50%. No one seems to know what to tell us. In reality it probably doesn’t matter if she submits or not because I will second guess myself if she doesn’t get in either way.

We are in the same boat. Applying to a "safety" university but SAT scores are in the 25-50% range for the engineering school, which is where DC is applying. To further complicate, 40% of admitted engineering students last year did not submit scores, so is that 25-75 range really reflective of the students they admit? Who knows?

You don't understand what a "safety" is. A school where your kid's SATs are in the 25-50 range is NOT a safety for your kid.

I do understand. I was following on previous post on applicants to schools that are widely considered safety schools on DCUM, but aren't that for all. Which is why I put "safety" in quotes. My point was about the total confusion about whether to submit scores or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, our schools are not highly competitive for top students. I have an average student who wants to get into the safeties of top students. Still, their scores are at the low end but still within the middle 50%. No one seems to know what to tell us. In reality it probably doesn’t matter if she submits or not because I will second guess myself if she doesn’t get in either way.

We are in the same boat. Applying to a "safety" university but SAT scores are in the 25-50% range for the engineering school, which is where DC is applying. To further complicate, 40% of admitted engineering students last year did not submit scores, so is that 25-75 range really reflective of the students they admit? Who knows?

You don't understand what a "safety" is. A school where your kid's SATs are in the 25-50 range is NOT a safety for your kid.

I do understand. I was following on previous post on applicants to schools that are widely considered safety schools on DCUM, but aren't that for all. Which is why I put "safety" in quotes. My point was about the total confusion about whether to submit scores or not.

And beyond that, if only 40% of admitted students submitted scores, can an applicant assume most of those scores were below the 25-75 range so maybe scores in the 25-50 range really aren't a risk to submit?

[Anonymous]

The college counselors at my DC’s private school just sent out a communication in the school’s weekly newsletter saying 4 of 6 students accepted to Stanford last year and 7 of 11 accepted to Cornell did not submit scores. So I’m not worried about my senior DC not taking the SAT.

[Anonymous]

It is 2022 cycle. The kids should have all been able to take the SAT at least once. While the schools say the test is optional, it really isn't.

What happened for the 2021 cycle has absolutely no bearing on this cycle. People should be looking more to the 2020 cycle that was not really interrupted by COVID the way 2021 was.

[Anonymous]

It has been extremely difficult to get a testing slot here in Northern California. For that reason, I think colleges will walk the walk when it comes to assurances that they are test-optional this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The college counselors at my DC’s private school just sent out a communication in the school’s weekly newsletter saying 4 of 6 students accepted to Stanford last year and 7 of 11 accepted to Cornell did not submit scores. So I’m not worried about my senior DC not taking the SAT.

One, last year isn't this year. This year, there's an SAT testing facility near you that is open. Last year, there likely was not.Ad coms know this very well, regardless of their official party line.

Two, a lot of those kids accepted last year to top flight schools without objective scores and grades were key athletes. That will be the case this year too. Is your DC a recruited athlete? Does your DC diversify the university's student body? If not, trying to hide his score in a year where testing sites are open and ready for business will backfire. They'll know it's low and you're not bringing anything distinct or intriguing to offset that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are from a UMC background and aren't submitting scores, that will not work in your favor.

How will admissions know if the student is from
an UMC background?

FAFSA
Common App responses
Democgraphics of the high school
and if the school is small enough, google

Also zip code. And whether high school is public or private ($$$), except for Langley and McLean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college counselors at my DC’s private school just sent out a communication in the school’s weekly newsletter saying 4 of 6 students accepted to Stanford last year and 7 of 11 accepted to Cornell did not submit scores. So I’m not worried about my senior DC not taking the SAT.

One, last year isn't this year. This year, there's an SAT testing facility near you that is open. Last year, there likely was not.Ad coms know this very well, regardless of their official party line.

Two, a lot of those kids accepted last year to top flight schools without objective scores and grades were key athletes. That will be the case this year too. Is your DC a recruited athlete? Does your DC diversify the university's student body? If not, trying to hide his score in a year where testing sites are open and ready for business will backfire. They'll know it's low and you're not bringing anything distinct or intriguing to offset that

No, as I said, we are in Northern California, and test sites have not been open. Out of the six kids that were accepted to Stanford, none were athletes. Only one was a URM. None were first generation or economically disadvantaged. You know not of what you speak.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they colleges will penalize students who apply TO after telling them they can apply TO. But they will look at other parts of the application that much harder. If you're borderline without test scores, a lower test probably wouldn't have sent you into the positive zone. I don't think the admissions officers will sit there and try to analyze why you didn't submit, there could have been many reasons. Gaming the system works both ways. I think a lot of schools, maybe not the top ones, have been moving away from tests anyway because it is easy to prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The college counselors at my DC’s private school just sent out a communication in the school’s weekly newsletter saying 4 of 6 students accepted to Stanford last year and 7 of 11 accepted to Cornell did not submit scores. So I’m not worried about my senior DC not taking the SAT.

Relying on 2021 stets, when a majority of kids didn’t have scores to submit due to covid, seems foolish, but you do you.

[Anonymous]

My DC will be compared with his peers who couldn’t get test slots, so I’m not nervous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is 2022 cycle. The kids should have all been able to take the SAT at least once. While the schools say the test is optional, it really isn't.

What happened for the 2021 cycle has absolutely no bearing on this cycle. People should be looking more to the 2020 cycle that was not really interrupted by COVID the way 2021 was.

Are you the same PP who keeps popping up to scold others, or tell us we "don't understand"? Again: we all understand that going test optional this year has nothing to do with a lack of opportunity to take the test. It is an option some students might exercise if they feel their test scores aren't indicative of their abilities. Many smart kids are terrible standardized test takers.

As for what the schools say, you don't know any more than we do.

[Anonymous]

This is from the Union College (in NY) website. Really helpful - wish more schools laid out their thinking like this:

When deciding whether or not to submit testing, consider the average score or middle 50% range of scores for Union. For enrolling students, the middle 50% range for the SAT is 1290-1410 [math + reading only] and the middle 50% for the ACT is 28-32. If your tests meet or exceed these averages, we recommend submitting them. If you have SAT or ACT scores from multiple test dates, we will superscore. In a typical enrolled class at Union, 35-40% of students did not submit testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is from the Union College (in NY) website. Really helpful - wish more schools laid out their thinking like this:

When deciding whether or not to submit testing, consider the average score or middle 50% range of scores for Union. For enrolling students, the middle 50% range for the SAT is 1290-1410 [math + reading only] and the middle 50% for the ACT is 28-32. If your tests meet or exceed these averages, we recommend submitting them. If you have SAT or ACT scores from multiple test dates, we will superscore. In a typical enrolled class at Union, 35-40% of students did not submit testing.

Do you interpret "meet or exceed these averages" as referring to the 25th percentile? I would, but this still seems ambiguous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The college counselors at my DC’s private school just sent out a communication in the school’s weekly newsletter saying 4 of 6 students accepted to Stanford last year and 7 of 11 accepted to Cornell did not submit scores. So I’m not worried about my senior DC not taking the SAT.

One, last year isn't this year. This year, there's an SAT testing facility near you that is open. Last year, there likely was not.Ad coms know this very well, regardless of their official party line.

Two, a lot of those kids accepted last year to top flight schools without objective scores and grades were key athletes. That will be the case this year too. Is your DC a recruited athlete? Does your DC diversify the university's student body? If not, trying to hide his score in a year where testing sites are open and ready for business will backfire. They'll know it's low and you're not bringing anything distinct or intriguing to offset that

No, as I said, we are in Northern California, and test sites have not been open. Out of the six kids that were accepted to Stanford, none were athletes. Only one was a URM. None were first generation or economically disadvantaged. You know not of what you speak.

DP here. Your kid obviously attends an elite private school with rigorous admission standards and a pipeline to Stanford and Cornell. So your little anecdote has no relevance to the real world in which most people reside.