Dartmouth Announces Test Scores Required Starting Next Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can't even handle that little test, you are not a material for selective schools. Common Sense.

YES!! The ACT/SAT in 2024 are not the tests we remember. Have you all looked at one? They're not tricky and they literally test basic grammar, reading and math. I mean, look at a test when you have a minute. It's all very basic stuff: the proper use of colons, reading a paragraph for content, doing basic geometry, etc. They're not complex questions!!

Those are the things are public school system fails kids. Writing instruction is atrocious. They also tend to accelerate kids in math too quickly and pass them along with inflated grades so there is no strong foundation. We had our kids do a short boot camp with a tutor before their private high school entrance exams in grammar.

Senior knocked ACT out of the park after 4 years with almost no ACT test prep. 36 in verbal and reading. 35 math.

FCPS kids have to take standardized tests every year. As a parent with a kid that FCPS accelerated, I know exactly where they stand compared to other kids in the county and state all the way though algebra II. Do private schools provide parents with similar objective data points?

My kid scored 600 on his SOLs. They are multiple choice...but then when it was time for exemption tests for private HS it was eye-opening. He had straight As too all the way through middle school and is a very bright kid. This was a large part of pulling him out of the public school system.

Not to mention the 'teach to the test' mentality. Our elementary school had copies of prior SOLs and would send home packets and drill kids specifically for the SOLs so the Principal could have high test scores. This was not teaching.

So this is a college thread, not an elementary thread.

Please don't derail this thread talking about elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Most of the DEI kids we know at TJ and in our public are not disadvantaged kids. They live in the same neighborhoods with professional parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can't even handle that little test, you are not a material for selective schools. Common Sense.

YES!! The ACT/SAT in 2024 are not the tests we remember. Have you all looked at one? They're not tricky and they literally test basic grammar, reading and math. I mean, look at a test when you have a minute. It's all very basic stuff: the proper use of colons, reading a paragraph for content, doing basic geometry, etc. They're not complex questions!!

Those are the things are public school system fails kids. Writing instruction is atrocious. They also tend to accelerate kids in math too quickly and pass them along with inflated grades so there is no strong foundation. We had our kids do a short boot camp with a tutor before their private high school entrance exams in grammar.

Senior knocked ACT out of the park after 4 years with almost no ACT test prep. 36 in verbal and reading. 35 math.

FCPS kids have to take standardized tests every year. As a parent with a kid that FCPS accelerated, I know exactly where they stand compared to other kids in the county and state all the way though algebra II. Do private schools provide parents with similar objective data points?

My kid scored 600 on his SOLs. They are multiple choice...but then when it was time for exemption tests for private HS it was eye-opening. He had straight As too all the way through middle school and is a very bright kid. This was a large part of pulling him out of the public school system.

Not to mention the 'teach to the test' mentality. Our elementary school had copies of prior SOLs and would send home packets and drill kids specifically for the SOLs so the Principal could have high test scores. This was not teaching.

So this is a college thread, not an elementary thread.

Please don't derail this thread talking about elementary school.

You need to read the post in context. It was people saying how easy the standardized tests are and why couldn't a well-educated kid take them and do well. These were the explanations.

Reading comprehension and context. Lol Many don't have it on this board so I can see why their kids don't score well.

[Anonymous]

They will start dropping like flies.

One Ivy can't appear more selective than the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will start dropping like flies.

One Ivy can't appear more selective than the next.

How would it look of Dartmouth requires test scores and Harvard doesn't, particularly with MIT now requiring them too?

[Anonymous]

This may not bode well for high scorers in class of 2024. They are going to want to fill the seats with these TO dummies before the scores come back everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think other schools follow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A huge blow to the DEI crowd.

And with legacy beginning to be pulled as well at many colleges...hopefully, we can enter a 'merit-based' admissions era.

I feel like people aren’t reading the article.

Dartmouth is basically saying we will take lots of kids with SAT scores in the 1300s and 1400s coming from disadvantaged schools.

I don’t see how that will help the 1580 Asian kid from TJ. Those parents will be crying louder than ever.

That is not at all what the article said.

Ok, what did it say...here is a direct quote:

“We’re looking for the kids who are excelling in their environment. We know society is unequal,” Beilock said. “Kids that are excelling in their environment, we think, are a good bet to excel at Dartmouth and out in the world.” The admissions office will judge an applicant’s environment partly by comparing his or her test score with the score distribution at the applicant’s high schools, Coffin said. In some cases, even an SAT score well below 1,400 can help an application.

[Anonymous]

This is excellent. Hoping the admissions circus stabilizes over the next two years - before we have to jump back in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is excellent. Hoping the admissions circus stabilizes over the next two years - before we have to jump back in.

Agree. I have a very high scoring Senior. Just hope his Sophomore brother is the same after this news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good. There may not be much difference between at 1500 and a 1600, but a 1200 does speak to the ability of a kid with a great GPA to succeed in a competitive college environment

There is no reason a college environment should be competitive.

Did you read the article? It's saying the opposite. Dartmouth wants to find people with SAT scores below 1400, and they were frustrated that their target audience wasn't taking the SAT.

The 1500 parents still don't get it and never will. The point isn't to find the highest test scorers and admit them all on a sliding scale. The test is another data point to show whether or not students can be successful. Frankly, a kid with a strong GPA at a decent school and a 1300 SAT will do just fine at Dartmouth, and Dartmouth wants to find them. This will really blow all your 1500+ parents' minds. My kid's highest SAT was a 1360, and he got into Georgetown--this was class of 2022. He's a sophomore. Doing very well. These schools don't want to reinstate test scores to find more high scores. They want a diverse class of students who will do well. Not a class of grinders. You all are celebrating way too soon. This doesn't make it any easier for your above average 1500+ kid to get into Dartmouth.

yes , but it makes my 1480 kid reach more. He went TO on his most competitive schools and I think that’s a shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A huge blow to the DEI crowd.

And with legacy beginning to be pulled as well at many colleges...hopefully, we can enter a 'merit-based' admissions era.

I feel like people aren’t reading the article.

Dartmouth is basically saying we will take lots of kids with SAT scores in the 1300s and 1400s coming from disadvantaged schools.

I don’t see how that will help the 1580 Asian kid from TJ. Those parents will be crying louder than ever.

That is not at all what the article said.

Ok, what did it say...here is a direct quote:

“We’re looking for the kids who are excelling in their environment. We know society is unequal,” Beilock said. “Kids that are excelling in their environment, we think, are a good bet to excel at Dartmouth and out in the world.” The admissions office will judge an applicant’s environment partly by comparing his or her test score with the score distribution at the applicant’s high schools, Coffin said. In some cases, even an SAT score well below 1,400 can help an application.

No,

You are misreading.

The article said that kids at those lower performing schools (such as a school where most kids graduate at a 3rd grade reading level or no one takes calculus) with scores in that range (1400+/-) are kids who have proven they can succeed at a school like Dartmouth. In contrast, a kid from a wealthy school with every resource at thier disposal who still only has a middling SAT score but high GPA will struggle.

That statement is talking about the potential to resources ratio. It is not a statement about a hard cut off of test scores.

You are completely misreading the entire article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may not bode well for high scorers in class of 2024. They are going to want to fill the seats with these TO dummies before the scores come back everywhere.

This.

100% this.

But I’m not sure it matters. It just means one school over another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A huge blow to the DEI crowd.

Actually not

It is.

Much of the DEI crowd dictates are not based in facts and were anti achievement, hurting minority kids, especially smart minority kids but also lower achieving minority kids because it pushes the idea that they cannot achieve due to factors out of their control, such as the way they look or coming from single parent homes, so why even try.

Moving away from this mindset and towards merit and achievement will help those that DEI claims to benefit.

Signed,
Former poor kid from a minority background

Did you read the article? Dartmouth literally said they will take poor kids from minority backgrounds with lower scores. They’re going back to test-mandatory because they want the 1450 poor kids over the 1250 poor kids. Rich kids still need a 1550.

It's literally perfect! This drops out the 4.0 dumb, upper middle class kids---the scores of them from the DMV who are just "bad test takers" and currently benefit from limitless late work and retakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may not bode well for high scorers in class of 2024. They are going to want to fill the seats with these TO dummies before the scores come back everywhere.

This.

100% this.

But I’m not sure it matters. It just means one school over another.

I do think a lot of TO schools were more "test aware" than truly TO this cycle. I still think with both high GPA and high scores at the more selective schools it will push the nod over a high GPA and no scores.