Does Test Optional Really Mean Test Optional

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people agree to submit a 34 ACT or 1500+ SAT. Also AP scores if you have them. If you are at a private that doesn’t offer the AP courses but can still take the AP exam and do well-even better, esp at OOS flagships.

Lots of rumination by top colleges about their testing policies going forward-listen to Dartmouth and Yale podcasts. It is universally agreed that test scores help validate a strong GPA and if you aren’t in a preferred category (URM, FGLI, athlete or legacy) it can only help
To have that piece of the puzzle. For the few who make it into a top 25 school without them-those are the unicorns.

You do realize that for schools with sub-10 % acceptance rates, unhooked students who submit test scores and get in are also unicorns!

According to the Common Data Set:
28% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Stanford
15% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Princeton
19% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Brown
17% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Harvard
40% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Cornell

At nearly all these schools, the number of hooked students exceeds test optional students by a decent margin

[Anonymous]

Admit rates for students submitting swamp those not submitting. Some of this is selection bias, but anyone claiming that app readers don’t assume a “no score” at Chicago, say, means <1500 is kidding themselves. Reality is that test optional is for hooked kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people agree to submit a 34 ACT or 1500+ SAT. Also AP scores if you have them. If you are at a private that doesn’t offer the AP courses but can still take the AP exam and do well-even better, esp at OOS flagships.

Lots of rumination by top colleges about their testing policies going forward-listen to Dartmouth and Yale podcasts. It is universally agreed that test scores help validate a strong GPA and if you aren’t in a preferred category (URM, FGLI, athlete or legacy) it can only help
To have that piece of the puzzle. For the few who make it into a top 25 school without them-those are the unicorns.

You do realize that for schools with sub-10 % acceptance rates, unhooked students who submit test scores and get in are also unicorns!

According to the Common Data Set:
28% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Stanford
15% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Princeton
19% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Brown
17% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Harvard
40% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Cornell

At nearly all these schools, the number of hooked students exceeds test optional students by a decent margin

40% of Cornell is not hooked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Admit rates for students submitting swamp those not submitting. Some of this is selection bias, but anyone claiming that app readers don’t assume a “no score” at Chicago, say, means <1500 is kidding themselves. Reality is that test optional is for hooked kids.

Def not for public school kids.
Some private slip through TO esp at Chicago

[Anonymous]

My son has gotten into 6 schools EA, 2 deferred to RD, 1 rejection--all TO. Highest ranked school in the mid-40s.

[Anonymous]

DS was accepted to a TO school I was certain he'd be rejected from. Pretty sure his 1450+ score had a lot to do with that. For whatever that's worth (not much, I know).

[Anonymous]

40% of Cornell is probably hooked if you add up legacy, first gen, URM, and athletic admits. A few years ago, 30% of the Harvard class was legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:40% of Cornell is probably hooked if you add up legacy, first gen, URM, and athletic admits. A few years ago, 30% of the Harvard class was legacy.

40% of 15k undergrads? What?!?

You guys are insane. Do some research on what colleges at Cornell are TO before spewing this stupid stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:40% of Cornell is probably hooked if you add up legacy, first gen, URM, and athletic admits. A few years ago, 30% of the Harvard class was legacy.

Harvard tiny compared Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40% of Cornell is probably hooked if you add up legacy, first gen, URM, and athletic admits. A few years ago, 30% of the Harvard class was legacy.

40% of 15k undergrads? What?!?

You guys are insane. Do some research on what colleges at Cornell are TO before spewing this stupid stuff.

Exactly. People really really want TO not to be real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40% of Cornell is probably hooked if you add up legacy, first gen, URM, and athletic admits. A few years ago, 30% of the Harvard class was legacy.

Harvard tiny compared Cornell.

Also, legacy students at schools like Harvard are no less likely than other students to submit scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people agree to submit a 34 ACT or 1500+ SAT. Also AP scores if you have them. If you are at a private that doesn’t offer the AP courses but can still take the AP exam and do well-even better, esp at OOS flagships.

Lots of rumination by top colleges about their testing policies going forward-listen to Dartmouth and Yale podcasts. It is universally agreed that test scores help validate a strong GPA and if you aren’t in a preferred category (URM, FGLI, athlete or legacy) it can only help
To have that piece of the puzzle. For the few who make it into a top 25 school without them-those are the unicorns.

You do realize that for schools with sub-10 % acceptance rates, unhooked students who submit test scores and get in are also unicorns!

According to the Common Data Set:
28% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Stanford
15% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Princeton
19% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Brown
17% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Harvard
40% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Cornell

One would expect to find that most of those non-submitters were athletes, legacies, and URM.

In other words, not your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people agree to submit a 34 ACT or 1500+ SAT. Also AP scores if you have them. If you are at a private that doesn’t offer the AP courses but can still take the AP exam and do well-even better, esp at OOS flagships.

Lots of rumination by top colleges about their testing policies going forward-listen to Dartmouth and Yale podcasts. It is universally agreed that test scores help validate a strong GPA and if you aren’t in a preferred category (URM, FGLI, athlete or legacy) it can only help
To have that piece of the puzzle. For the few who make it into a top 25 school without them-those are the unicorns.

You do realize that for schools with sub-10 % acceptance rates, unhooked students who submit test scores and get in are also unicorns!

According to the Common Data Set:
28% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Stanford
15% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Princeton
19% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Brown
17% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Harvard
40% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Cornell

At nearly all these schools, the number of hooked students exceeds test optional students by a decent margin

40% of Cornell is not hooked

Do you know what “nearly all” means. Cornell is test blind for three of its undergraduate schools and therefore an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people agree to submit a 34 ACT or 1500+ SAT. Also AP scores if you have them. If you are at a private that doesn’t offer the AP courses but can still take the AP exam and do well-even better, esp at OOS flagships.

Lots of rumination by top colleges about their testing policies going forward-listen to Dartmouth and Yale podcasts. It is universally agreed that test scores help validate a strong GPA and if you aren’t in a preferred category (URM, FGLI, athlete or legacy) it can only help
To have that piece of the puzzle. For the few who make it into a top 25 school without them-those are the unicorns.

You do realize that for schools with sub-10 % acceptance rates, unhooked students who submit test scores and get in are also unicorns!

According to the Common Data Set:
28% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Stanford
15% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Princeton
19% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Brown
17% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Harvard
40% of enrolled didn’t submit scores to Cornell

One would expect to find that most of those non-submitters were athletes, legacies, and URM.

In other words, not your kid.

Not at Cornell babe

[Anonymous]

When colleges say they are test optional, they have to test optional for ALL kids. It would be discriminatory to say test optional applies only to one group of students but not another.