Reply to Brown reinstating SATs/ACT requirements

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Welfare check on the TESTING IS NEVER COMING BACK! brigade, please.[/quote]

I mean…Columbia went permanently TO. Cornell announced that it’s extending TO. Michigan is permanently TO. The UC schools are permanently test-blind. Amherst, Pomona, and a number of other top-ranked SLACs are permanently TO. The vast majority of schools outside the ~50 people on here talk about are still TO and don’t seem to be signaling any change.

I think testing is going to come back for a small subset of schools that have huge numbers of applications and want to use tests to cull applicants easily, and at public schools in some red states.

I think the “TO is over” folks are reading the evidence very selectively.[/quote]

[b]First, nothing is permanent.[/b]  I agree Cal schools will not come back; Pomona also.  Columbia will be test required before long as will Cornell and Michigan.  They have to given the moves already.

As to why -- they are of the view that the test score is a better predictor of first year performance.  Better than inflated grades.[/quote]

Well, sure…in which case Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown could eliminate tests again at some point!

The point is, there is no indication that TO is going away broadly. Many schools were TO before the pandemic. Some will shift back to requiring tests in the coming years. Others will stake out some new ground. Many (probably most) will stay test optional. The idea that what Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown have done portends some great pendulum swing back to test-required is not grounded in any evidence.

Here’s the thing—I don’t really care. My TO kid got into a great school this year, and my next kid always planned to submit scores. [b]I think test optional is great because it allows every kid to put their best foot forward.[/b] But truly, whatever. I just think the wishcasting among the folks who have decided standardized testing is the One True Indicator is ridiculous and makes people who think they are smart sound really dumb. [/quote]since when were people able to just put there best foot forward in life, and disregard the part of the app they don’t want to do, when we are competing for a job or admission to something. In those cases people should all be required to submit the exact same things for review to see who is the strongest candidate. If you are bad at tests you are not the strongest candidate. Just like If you are applying for a dance program and you can’t dance as well as the person next to you in the audition then you don’t get in either. Should it be optional for some dancers at that audition to only do half the routine because they feel that is the way they will shine best (since they know they can’t do the other half well) and still get in? No. They should not. 
That’s life. [/quote]

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