Anonymous
04/18/2021 10:37
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The field is NOT being leveled. Get that out of your heads. College admissions officers HATE test optional. They have an even harder time trying to separate the wheat from the chaff.
After this year is over, they're going to try to backpedal hard, but it will take a while.
Link?
Actually the first PP is wrong. Admissions officers didn't hate it (except for Yale), adjusted to it and 2/3 of schools see test optional as the future. This American Life did a great podcast on it.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/734/the-campus-tour-has-been-cancelled
Anonymous
04/18/2021 10:32
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Daughter who's a junior pulled a 1490 on her first SAT attempt in March, cold, I mean zero preparation. Now she has a tutor and is signed up to take it again in June. Her tutor told me that based on what she's observed in their sessions so far she expects her to get a 1550+ on the second try.
I want to be excited for her, but after reading this board along with so many newspaper articles on how test optional is changing the admission landscape, I can't help but think she came along a couple years too late to be a high-achiever but an otherwise normal kid, by which I mean she's ranked near the top of her class, plays sports, is involved in clubs, but isn't a "URM" or a "first-generation student" and has no interest in being some nationally known social justice activist or social media influencer.
She's just a really smart kid who'll likely become a doctor, pharmacist, PT, or something in that mold, and her test scores were going to be what set her apart from all the other kids who've been handed high grades during Zoom school and can make up a bunch of extracurriculars and "leadership roles" for their applications.
I worry that some kid like that who probably couldn't pull a 1300-1400 with a year of prep will end up taking a spot that should have gone to my daughter. That might sound bad, but what parent likes seeing their kid lose out on opportunities to someone who they know is less talented and less capable?
I hate test optional!
Test optional can SMD!
Yes, she is a few years too late for her to get into school merely by dint of being rich and white. How terrible for her.
You presume OP is white. And, BTW, your argument can easily be flipped - poor and Black - you are in - merely because of that.
Anonymous
04/18/2021 10:29
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Sorry, op. That stinks.
But - test optional provides more opportunities to families who cannot afford tutors.
Check your entitlement at the door. The field is being leveled.
"Entitled" is such an overused word that now has zero relevance.
The field is NOT being leveled. It is being tipped to one, single side to scoop up whomever. Time will prove "test optional" is about as good as DC not doing standardized tests to take account of what learning gaps were created due to COvid.
No testing - not problem - everyone gets a trophy!!!
Anonymous
04/18/2021 07:47
Subject: I hate test optional!
The superiority complexes on this these are enough to make you go hmmm
Having a sub 1400 SAT does not mean the kid didn’t “master” high school. Good lord. Some people are not good test takers. My DC gets so nervous for standardized tests that he threw up the morning of the test. Not everyone can sit in a room and have their entire lives laying out in front of them, depending on whether or not they ace the test.
Having a sub 1400 SAT does not mean the kid didn’t “master” high school. Good lord. Some people are not good test takers. My DC gets so nervous for standardized tests that he threw up the morning of the test. Not everyone can sit in a room and have their entire lives laying out in front of them, depending on whether or not they ace the test.
Anonymous
04/18/2021 00:42
Subject: I hate test optional!
If she has great test scores submit them. Why would you not? The big majority of admits to selective school did submit scores and I don't see how high scores cab do anything but help an applicant.
Most of the admitted class will not come from the group of students without test scores.
Most of the admitted class will not come from the group of students without test scores.
Anonymous
04/18/2021 00:28
Subject: I hate test optional!
The irony with test optional is that if you are a URM with a 1400 on the SAT, submit and get accepted anywhere. A 1400 for an Asian or white doesn’t even factor in admission. Test optional is simply a way for colleges to admit URMs who would have woefully low SAT scores that would disqualify them normally. If you are White/Asian, you need to submit scores...and they need to be high.
Anonymous
04/18/2021 00:02
Subject: I hate test optional!
It seems as if some of you do not realize Khan Academy has FREE test prep for anyone with internet access. By now I believe that is most kids in the U.S.. Doing all of those full length test ( and then studying mistakes) is how my UMC kid got a high 1500 score on the second try. No tutors.
Taking away the tests is not leveling the playing field as many have stated. It gives an advantage to kids who are not great problem solvers and who did not master the basics of high school, but may have high grades due to a variety of factors. It seems as if some people on here do not realize that the new SAT (class of 2017) is an achievement test meant to capture how much students learned in high school, not an aptitude test as it was when we took it.
No one thinks their high scoring kid is more “worthy” than any other for any college seat. We just want the strengths of our kids to be evaluated just as the strengths of other kids are.
Taking away the tests is not leveling the playing field as many have stated. It gives an advantage to kids who are not great problem solvers and who did not master the basics of high school, but may have high grades due to a variety of factors. It seems as if some people on here do not realize that the new SAT (class of 2017) is an achievement test meant to capture how much students learned in high school, not an aptitude test as it was when we took it.
No one thinks their high scoring kid is more “worthy” than any other for any college seat. We just want the strengths of our kids to be evaluated just as the strengths of other kids are.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 21:17
Subject: Re:I hate test optional!
This I know is true - the cream rises to the top - doesn’t matter what school you attend.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 21:08
Subject: Re:I hate test optional!
Ha ha, as if! You people consoling yourself with your anti SJW BS are so funny. The top 30 schools have already established their brand, built demand and have more money than you can count. They can admit anyone they want and don't need your little snowflake.I get it. I think this social justice experiment is going to sink the top colleges though. So it doesn't matter if you don't get in because the names won't be worth anything in a few years anyway.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 20:50
Subject: Re:I hate test optional!
It won't last forever, relax. Sucks for your daughter though.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 20:05
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Sorry, op. That stinks.
But - test optional provides more opportunities to families who cannot afford tutors.
Check your entitlement at the door. The field is being leveled.
I disagree. Tutors are more likely to help raise the a kids GPA more than they raise the SAT score.
My (black) son has not been well treated by some of his (mainly white) teachers and his grades show that. The SAT gives a chance for colleges to bypass the teachers and see his talent.
Now my daughter would be helped by more attention on grades. But I think the ideal would be to have multiple type of student evaluations for colleges to consider.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 20:03
Subject: I hate test optional!
I get it. I think this social justice experiment is going to sink the top colleges though. So it doesn't matter if you don't get in because the names won't be worth anything in a few years anyway.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 19:55
Subject: I hate test optional!
Top schools do not take kids who aspire to be physical therapists.
Anonymous
04/17/2021 19:15
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, op. That stinks.
But - test optional provides more opportunities to families who cannot afford tutors.
Check your entitlement at the door. The field is being leveled.
Honestly, with lower scoring kids going to Ivies and higher ones headed to state schools, we might find the next Bill Gates out of UVA.
Why not? The next Sergey Brin could come out of UMD. Oh, wait...
Or the next Tim Cook out of Auburn. Oh, wait....
Anonymous
04/17/2021 19:12
Subject: I hate test optional!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sorry, op. That stinks.
But - test optional provides more opportunities to families who cannot afford tutors.
Check your entitlement at the door. The field is being leveled.
Honestly, with lower scoring kids going to Ivies and higher ones headed to state schools, we might find the next Bill Gates out of UVA.
Why not? The next Sergey Brin could come out of UMD. Oh, wait...