extra time on tests and applying to college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all know there are a couple of schools with in-house professionals who provide personalized testing to all students to ensure everyone gets extra time. That's part of the reason most colleges will go (or have gone) test optional - the system is rigged.

Which schools would these be? The issue should be discussed specifically and followed up appropriately.

And no, rigged testing is not a major motivation for test-optional policies at colleges and universities. Not requiring standardized tests increases the number of applications. As another poster quite correctly noted, this can also affect a university's selectivity, which can help to raise its algorithmic ratings on lists like US News. But this increase in applications under test optionality often also includes more applications from less advantaged populations, which is a big plus for many institutions for many reasons, including organizational mission (in the secular sense), diversity and representation goals, and serious concerns about equity and social justice.

Personally I do not think that test-optional is likely to last for very long, because it creates so much blurriness. My completely unfounded instinct is that the standardized tests we currently know may become a niche-market activity (the SAT subject tests have been discontinued, for example, and use of the GRE is in decline right now, as well), perhaps as an evaluation tool for certain specific disciplines. I teach college, and in my field standardized test scores are actually a pretty good indirect indicator of raw technical potential, but they cannot speak to variables like analytical skill or sheer commitment and hard work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know there are a couple of schools with in-house professionals who provide personalized testing to all students to ensure everyone gets extra time. That's part of the reason most colleges will go (or have gone) test optional - the system is rigged.

Which schools would these be? The issue should be discussed specifically and followed up appropriately.

And no, rigged testing is not a major motivation for test-optional policies at colleges and universities. Not requiring standardized tests increases the number of applications. As another poster quite correctly noted, this can also affect a university's selectivity, which can help to raise its algorithmic ratings on lists like US News. But this increase in applications under test optionality often also includes more applications from less advantaged populations, which is a big plus for many institutions for many reasons, including organizational mission (in the secular sense), diversity and representation goals, and serious concerns about equity and social justice.

Personally I do not think that test-optional is likely to last for very long, because it creates so much blurriness. My completely unfounded instinct is that the standardized tests we currently know may become a niche-market activity (the SAT subject tests have been discontinued, for example, and use of the GRE is in decline right now, as well), perhaps as an evaluation tool for certain specific disciplines. I teach college, and in my field standardized test scores are actually a pretty good indirect indicator of raw technical potential, but they cannot speak to variables like analytical skill or sheer commitment and hard work.

The colleges who are test optional know only the kids with good scores will apply. They will continue to submit act/sat scores. This is the racquet. It raises the college's stats to have more kids applying to that college with higher scores. I thought everyone knew this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The colleges who are test optional know only the kids with good scores will apply. They will continue to submit act/sat scores. This is the racquet. It raises the college's stats to have more kids applying to that college with higher scores. I thought everyone knew this.

I teach at a TO school, and our average applicant score has stayed almost exactly the same now that we are TO as it was before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The colleges who are test optional know only the kids with good scores will apply. They will continue to submit act/sat scores. This is the racquet. It raises the college's stats to have more kids applying to that college with higher scores. I thought everyone knew this.

I teach at a TO school, and our average applicant score has stayed almost exactly the same now that we are TO as it was before.

Have you seen any difference in the quality or preparation of the students? Any other differences? Just curious whether TO will stay at most schools.