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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I mean, obviously. The test optional thing was a weird experiment and there is no evidence that it accomplished anything useful, and some evidence it was genuinely detrimental. Good riddance.

Being good at taking tests is not the most important thing in life and everyone should remind themselves of that. But it turns out that people who do test well, and are able to get very high scores on college preparedness tests, tend to also do best in college, where they will also be expected to regularly take tests. It's okay that not everyone goes to an Ivy, or becomes a lawyer or doctor or academic or MBA or whatever. It's not the only option in life.[/quote]

Just realize that Harvard isn't going to accept your kids with a 1580 over one with a 1500 based on the SAT alone.  They will consider them "the same"/made the cut, and then look at everything else.  I don't think requiring tests will have the effect most "high stats" parents want.  
Fact is T20 schools only want to see your kid meet a baseline for the testing, then they still want to look at everything else.  A 1600 doesn't differentiate your kid from a 1520 kid really. 
These schools will still be highly rejective. 
[/quote]

Here we go with the backstop position, now that TO is being blown sky high.

In fact, there’s meaningful differentiation between a kid with a 1600 / 36 and another kid with a 1520 / 34. Especially when multiple re-takes and super scoring are involved in the latter.[/quote]

Yeah go ahead and believe that 98/99 to 99+ percentile means a "meaningful differentiation".  The fact is most T20 (including Harvard) don't use it to differentiate that way.  They can (and most likely will) still take a 1520 kid over your 1600 kid.  Why? Because they look at the whole picture.  They want a certain level of SAT score, based on where you live/attend school (if you are in a school with no APs in the middle of Wyoming, your threshold might be a bit lower), but once you meet that level, they look at everything else.  They don't just put all the 1600 kids in a pile and then pick from that. If they did, then Harvard (and many T20s) would be 50%+ kids with 1600.  And it was NEVER like that, even pre covid.

Fact is they want to use SAT as part of the overall decision making process, but it's still not the be all end all determinator that you want it to be.  T20 schools are looking for kids that make a difference and will be natural leaders.  They recognize that the difference between 96 and 99th percentile on a standardized test is really not that much different.  The Essays, ECs, recommendations, and course rigor along with GPA will matter more once you make a basic level for testing[/quote]

Do you even understand the limitations of standardized testing in the area you are alluding to? The kids who crushes a 1600 or 36 on their first attempt doesn't even have access to an assessment that would enable them to distance themselves from the 1520 or 1560 scorers. Don't you understand that? In your mind the forced ceiling on the truly "perfect score" makes a 98th score essentially the same as a 99.9+ percentile score. That's far from the truth.

Imagine evaluating 100 kindergarten students in your local elementary school. The assessment entails asking each of the students to answer math problems appropriate for the third grade curriculum in your district. All of the students answer between 1 - 10 questions correctly, with a cluster of twelve kids answering 6 - 8 questions correctly, one student answering 9 questions correctly, and one student answering all 10 questions correctly. That last student is also able to handle much higher level math, but the assessment doesn't test for that higher level capacity.

In your view of the world, the student answering 9 questions correctly and the student answering all 10 questions correctly are essentially the same. They are not the same, though. Don't you understand that?[/quote]

NP: Your and the PP's argument is pointless because Harvard will continue to reject and accept 1600 scorers at the same rate it did pre-TO. I think SAT scores are important and valuable data, but let's not be delusional to think that the acceptance rate for high scorers is going to significantly change going forward. Harvard is not embracing true meritocracy. Read their study—they have an agenda.  [/quote]

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