When is the standardized craze gonna hit the LACs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably soon. Once Williams or Amherst makes a move, others will quickly go back. I don't see Amherst doing this anytime soon, since they're struggling to get their diversity numbers back up and want to get them higher. I really doubt Pomona or any west coast LAC would make such a move.

Struggling to get diversity numbers up? You should see the class of 2029 at Amherst. Last year was a blip.

I’d love to but Amherst hid its diversity numbers in its class of 2029 press release.

It's a very diverse class. My guess is they're trying to stay under the radar and not be targeted by the current admin.

According to who?

[Anonymous]

Top LACs should go back to test required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs should go back to test required.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top LACs should go back to test required.

Why? They want flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Newsflash: test required schools also have total flexibility. They just have to report they admitted three kids with a 1350. Who cares?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newsflash: test required schools also have total flexibility. They just have to report they admitted three kids with a 1350. Who cares?!

Right? Georgetown has been test required forever, never stopping them from admitting low score rich kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably soon. Once Williams or Amherst makes a move, others will quickly go back. I don't see Amherst doing this anytime soon, since they're struggling to get their diversity numbers back up and want to get them higher. I really doubt Pomona or any west coast LAC would make such a move.

Struggling to get diversity numbers up? You should see the class of 2029 at Amherst. Last year was a blip.

I’d love to but Amherst hid its diversity numbers in its class of 2029 press release.

It's a very diverse class. My guess is they're trying to stay under the radar and not be targeted by the current admin.

According to who?

My kid who attends. Said it’s more diverse than his public HS, which was quite diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

False. Professors hate TO because they cannot teach to such a wide spectrum of student talent. This is well known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

False. Professors hate TO because they cannot teach to such a wide spectrum of student talent. This is well known.

No, that is not what happened. You just made some general statement that has nothing to do with caltedh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

Yes, I agree they did rush, and they also played the admissions game to increase their yield by reducing the number of accepted applicants from approximately 430 to 330 between fall 2023 and fall 2024. Also, their selection process differs slightly as they require having members for their entire sports team, whereas Mudd shares its athletics with CMC and Scripps. This helps Mudd to select more students who would focus solely on academics. Therefore, if any applicant is a D3, they will have a significantly better chance of being accepted to Caltech than a regular applicant.

Another big difference is Mudd community which is smaller overall than Caltech. I know both Caltech and Mudd have around 920 undergraduates, but Caltech has a broader student community with the addition of graduate students. One can argue that Claremont Colleges as a whole form a larger community, but the STEM community is fairly small and confined to Mudd students. Hence, the Mudd admission committee is more geared towards selecting students who will thrive in a small environment.

Thirdly, Caltech, having a more household name, attracts many students who are prestige changers or students who may not be super qualified, whereas Mudd, not having such a household broader name attracts students who genuinely know about Mudd. That's why for Caltech it's much harder to winnow the applicants with TO, whereas for Muss it's less tedious to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

Yes, I agree they did rush, and they also played the admissions game to increase their yield by reducing the number of accepted applicants from approximately 430 to 330 between fall 2023 and fall 2024. Also, their selection process differs slightly as they require having members for their entire sports team, whereas Mudd shares its athletics with CMC and Scripps. This helps Mudd to select more students who would focus solely on academics. Therefore, if any applicant is a D3, they will have a significantly better chance of being accepted to Caltech than a regular applicant.

Another big difference is Mudd community which is smaller overall than Caltech. I know both Caltech and Mudd have around 920 undergraduates, but Caltech has a broader student community with the addition of graduate students. One can argue that Claremont Colleges as a whole form a larger community, but the STEM community is fairly small and confined to Mudd students. Hence, the Mudd admission committee is more geared towards selecting students who will thrive in a small environment.

Thirdly, Caltech, having a more household name, attracts many students who are prestige changers or students who may not be super qualified, whereas Mudd, not having such a household broader name attracts students who genuinely know about Mudd. That's why for Caltech it's much harder to winnow the applicants with TO, whereas for Muss it's less tedious to do so.

What? A majority of Pomona grads do a stem major- most popular majors are math Econ and computer science followed by chem neuro and bio. Much of scripps and pitzer are stem too. There are 4 distinct science communities at the 5cs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just genuinely interested in everyone’s thoughts. It’s surprising that Mudd, Swat, and Carleton are still test optional while remaining very rigorous. Also interesting that Williams, Amherst, Pomona haven’t seemed to consider test scores.

I don't think it matters for Mudd. The applicants are almost all in the top percentile for Math. Their selection process is unique due to their size, and they are very careful about who can thrive in their small community and rigorous academic environment.

Then why did Caltech go back to test required?

They literally saw two students do poorly and rushed a decision. It actually really wasn't as well thought out or quantitative as one would assume from caltech.

Yes, I agree they did rush, and they also played the admissions game to increase their yield by reducing the number of accepted applicants from approximately 430 to 330 between fall 2023 and fall 2024. Also, their selection process differs slightly as they require having members for their entire sports team, whereas Mudd shares its athletics with CMC and Scripps. This helps Mudd to select more students who would focus solely on academics. Therefore, if any applicant is a D3, they will have a significantly better chance of being accepted to Caltech than a regular applicant.

Another big difference is Mudd community which is smaller overall than Caltech. I know both Caltech and Mudd have around 920 undergraduates, but Caltech has a broader student community with the addition of graduate students. One can argue that Claremont Colleges as a whole form a larger community, but the STEM community is fairly small and confined to Mudd students. Hence, the Mudd admission committee is more geared towards selecting students who will thrive in a small environment.

Thirdly, Caltech, having a more household name, attracts many students who are prestige changers or students who may not be super qualified, whereas Mudd, not having such a household broader name attracts students who genuinely know about Mudd. That's why for Caltech it's much harder to winnow the applicants with TO, whereas for Muss it's less tedious to do so.

What? A majority of Pomona grads do a stem major- most popular majors are math Econ and computer science followed by chem neuro and bio. Much of scripps and pitzer are stem too. There are 4 distinct science communities at the 5cs.

Oh wow just checked this and it’s true- if you look at Pomona’s major data, in 2024, the top 5 majors make up 50% of the class alone and they’re all designated by Pomona as stem- Math, CS, economics, Neuroscience, and molecular biology. Almost 20% of their most recent class majored in CS alone.

Source for those interested: https://tableau.campus.pomona.edu/views/Majorsbygradcohort-publicview/Overview?%3Aembed=y