Reply to NEWS: UC schools are dropping SAT requirement for class of 2021

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If the university can still consider SAT/ACT scores for students who submit then, doesn’t that put students who don’t submit at a disadvantage?

Let’s say you have two applicants who are equally qualified....but one submits a stellar SAT score, and one submits no score at all. Wouldn’t they be more likely
to admit the student with the strong test score?

[b]Wondering if this change is more of a talking point than an actual change. Unless the process is “SAT blind”, I don’t see how it wouldn’t still be an advantage to submit test scores[/b].

Thoughts? [/quote]

Your instincts are correct.  In the recent past, a number of schools have adopted this policy as a way 1) to increase diversity without explicitly abandoning their admissions requirements in re quality/rigor.  Nearly anyone can get an impressive high GPA these days, owing to widespread rampant grade inflation.  So a test-optional school can admit otherwise weak standardized test-takers without compromising the average GPA (or test scores) of admitted/enrolled students.

The second reason schools have adopted this optional test score policy is that they know the kids with good test scores will furnish them, and the applicants with mediocre or poor scores won't.  Thus, the school will be able to report higher average test scores.

Lookie here, Ma.  My USNWR ranking just went up!  It's like magic!

I don't think this will affect the UC schools that much.  It may, at the margins, enhance enrollment of favored minority groups -- the UC schools have been looking for a way around the law for years now, in order to discriminate in favor of favored groups -- but you have to believe that the least favored of all groups, Asian Americans, will continue to submit their test scores.  They'd be crazy not to do so.[/quote]

I'm not saying you are wrong, but do you actually KNOW how the test optional policies work in practice at most colleges?  I have not been able to find anything from someone inside a college admissions office to confirm or refute your view.

Also, "discriminate" is not the word I would choose to describe efforts to diversify the student body, but I understand that you and I may disagree on this issue.  [/quote]

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