Reply to Is there general agreement that if your score is above 25th percentile, you should submit?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As all the contradictory yet confidently delivered advice here indicates, the whole test-scores thing is a mess. I've listed to dozens of podcasts and read several threads like this one, and the only conclusions I can draw is that things are very much in flux and it depends on the particular school. Here are some of the different flavors of test-optional advice out there.

(1) The Prevailing Wisdom: Most (but not all) AO's recommend submitting scores if they are between the 25%-75% averages of that school. Reasonable minds can differ as to whether to submit a test score that is just marginally below that 25%. Some argue that it's be better to submit a 33 to, say, Brown (34-36), than to go test optional because the AO might otherwise assume that the TO-applicant got a much worse ACT score (and a 33 is still a marvelous score). Others believe that certain schools are trying to keep their average test scores up for the sake of prestige such that they're likely to reject any applicant that pulls down their average.

(2) Test Preferred: As noted above, some schools like Yale and Dartmouth have indicated that they're "test preferred." I've heard that for such schools, it's a good idea to look at their pre-test optional test scores (e.g, from 2019) and submit the score if it's in the school's pre-Covid middle 50%. This makes sense to me. I doubt that withholding a good-but-not-great ACT score like a 32 or 33 is going to be better than going TO at a test-preferred school, which is a crapshoot anyhow.

(3) Only Median or Above: Some people recommend only submitting scores if they are at the school's median or above. I've never personally heard an AO recommend this on the record though. But I have heard anecdotally that this is the case for some schools. For example, I read somewhere that Northeastern's AOs have recommended this approach for NEU--e.g., if NEU's ACT median is a 34, then you shouldn't submit a 33 even though it's within NEU's middle 50%. Apparently, the philosophy is that the school is seeking to increase its average test scores for appearance's sake. That sounds insane to me, but it doesn't mean it's untrue.

(4) Good Test Score In Context: Many AOs recommend that an applicant submit a test score that is below the school's 25%-75% range if that score far exceeds the scores for the applicant's school. For example, an applicant from rural Appalachia should submit an ACT 31 to Yale if the average ACT score at their impoverished school is a 15.

(5) The Unfamiliar High School: If an applicant goes to a school with which AOs have no familiarity--e.g., home-schooled kids, an international school, or a brand new domestic charter school--a test score provides an objective measure of that student's potential aptitude that might be hard to discern from grades alone.

(6) Truly Test Optional: Some schools emphatically insist that withholding test scores will in no way prejudice an applicant. I'm inclined to believe any school that was test optional before Covid or any school where less than 50% of admitted/enrolled students submitted scores.

(7) Test Scores Not Considered at All: Some schools categorically do not consider test scores, such as Berkeley, UCLA, and the College of AAP at Cornell. [/quote]

OP here.  Thank you!  That is a drop the mic post!  I'm personally going to run with "If 25th percentile can be hit, then you must submit!"  And then consider modifications to that on a case by case basis.[/quote]

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