A record number of colleges and universities have in recent weeks dropped the requirement that students applying to enter as freshmen in fall 2021 submit an SAT or ACT test, and some are using it as a pilot to determine whether to eliminate the requirement altogether — actions that could presage a broad shift away from admissions testing in higher education. Dozens of schools — including major universities and such highly selective schools as top-ranked Williams College and other major universities — have announced new test-optional policies for high school juniors as a response to the shutdown of most public life, in the United States and around the world, to try to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Each day brings new suspensions, and many more are expected in the coming weeks, admissions experts say. There is a growing chorus of voices for even more schools to take such action. The student-led nonprofit group Student Voice is holding a news conference next week to urge every college and university in the country “to prioritize equity in the admissions process” and adopt test-optional policies for freshmen entering in 2021, according to a statement. The test-flexible movement, which has been building for years, has grown exponentially this year, with concerns mounting about the value of a single test score and the fairness of using that score in admissions when all students do not have the same access to great teachers and test preparation. But the shift has accelerated since the pandemic hit. Stay-at-home orders prompted the College Board and ACT Inc., which own the SAT and ACT exams, respectively, to cancel several administrations of the exams. As a result, schools started suspending the rule for 2021 freshmen in numbers never seen. Some of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the country have suspended the testing requirement, including Williams, Amherst, Haverford, Davidson, Pomona, Rhodes, Scripps and Vassar colleges. Davidson, Rhodes and Williams, which routinely ranks as No. 1 in national liberal arts colleges on U.S. News & World Report rankings, are launching three-year pilot programs to test whether the requirement is needed at all. Vassar plans to review the matter next year to see whether to extend it. So is Trinity University, a liberal arts college in Texas. A number of highly competitive universities have made similar announcements. They include the influential University of California system, which said April 1 that it would suspend its admission testing requirements for students seeking to enter in fall 2021. The UC system, with its renowned undergraduate campuses in Berkeley, Los Angeles and seven other locations, is a major force in public higher education. Tufts University has announced a three-year pilot. Boston University plans to review their policies next year to see whether to extend it. Northeastern University, all public universities in Oregon, Texas Christian University and Western Michigan University are just some of the universities that have switched to test flexibility for 2021 because of the pandemic. These bring the number of accredited, bachelor-degree-granting schools that have recently dropped ACT/SAT requirements for some period to more than 50, according to a list maintained by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest), a nonprofit organization that works to end the misuse of standardized tests. In addition, some 45 schools have temporarily waived testing requirements for high school seniors applying to start college this summer or fall. FairTest, which has been keeping records for years of standardized testing requirements at colleges and universities, says there are now more than 1,100 four-year colleges and universities that do not use the SAT or ACT to admit large numbers of bachelor-degree applicants. (You can see the full list here.) Bob Schaeffer, interim director of FairTest, said the growing wave of schools moving to test-optional policies could be a turning point for the way colleges and universities assess the value of using test scores in admissions decisions in the future. “The question is what will policymakers do about testing after the current crisis is over?” he said. “Will there be a knee-jerk restoration of high-stakes testing? Or will the fact that high-quality educational decisions continued to be made in K-12 and higher education without standardized exams persuade many to seriously review the evidence before they react? Assessment reformers hope that one positive consequence of this awful threat to human health will be a wholesale rethinking of the ways America evaluates students, teachers and schools.” He also said that he thinks standardized testing suspensions — which have also occurred in K-12 schools — will have a more permanent impact in the area of universities. “It’s a lot easier for admissions leaders at an individual institution of higher education to keep a well-functioning test-optional policy in place than to convince a majority of legislators (and, especially, the test-and-punish ideologues who support them) to vote to repeal testing requirements,” he said. Zachary Goldberg, spokesman for the College Board, said in an email that “the health and safety of students is our first priority,” but also suggested that it was working on “innovative means to ensure all students can still take the SAT this fall,” even if schools can’t open because the pandemic has not subsided. He did not provide further details, but the College Board isalready arranging for Advanced Placement tests to be taken at home in May or June if schools are still closed. Edward Colby, spokesman for ACT Inc., said in an email that “ACT scores continue to be widely used in admissions, placement and scholarship decisions” and that even though “some institutions make temporary adjustments to their admission criteria to mitigate COVID-19 impact on applications and enrollment, we’re reminding students and colleges that ACT remains committed to benefiting them both.” He also said ACT was exploring new options for the test for the next school year, saying that “testing at home is one of the new test options that we are currently exploring and evaluating.” Research has consistently shown that ACT and SAT scores are strongly linked to family income, the education level of the test-taker’s mother, and race. The College Board and ACT say their tests are predictive of college success, but there is also research showing otherwise. The issue of elitism in college admissions was underscored by last year’s Operation Varsity Blues, a federal investigation into admissions fraud that resulted in the indictments of dozens of people, including wealthy parents and college coaches who prosecutors said created false records to secure admission to top schools. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were two of the better-known defendants. Nearly 50 accredited colleges and universities that award bachelor’s degrees had announced from September 2018 to September 2019 that they were dropping the admissions requirement for an SAT or ACT score, but the pace of such decisions has rapidly increased this year. This is Goldberg’s complete statement: “The health and safety of students is our first priority, and we are collaborating with higher education institutions to provide flexibility to students and to support admissions under these unprecedented circumstances. We’re working to address testing access issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic and will provide additional SAT testing dates and increased capacity as soon as the public health situation allows. If, unfortunately, schools cannot reopen this fall, we’re pursuing innovative means to ensure all students can still take the SAT this fall. In every situation, we are committed to finding opportunities through which all students, especially low income students, can distinguish themselves in admissions.” This is Colby’s complete statement: ACT scores continue to be widely used in admissions, placement and scholarship decisions. As some institutions make temporary adjustments to their admission criteria to mitigate COVID-19 impact on applications and enrollment, we’re reminding students and colleges that ACT remains committed to benefiting them both. ACT has already announced that we will be offering new test options, such as online testing and ACT section retesting, in the next school year as part of our national test dates. However, we are also currently exploring and evaluating new testing experiences, including remote proctoring for at-home testing, based on our online research and development. We are committed to supporting students’ needs for obtaining an ACT score during these trying times. In addition, we are reminding students to continue to utilize a host of free resources ACT provides at www.act.org/covid19 [act.org] to help them prepare for test dates ahead and for success in college. Here is FairTest’s list of colleges and universities with test-optional or flexible policies, as of April 10. The list is updated everyday on FairTest’s website.
What is the SAT? Many colleges require scores from the SAT or ACT tests as a part of the admissions process. Your SAT score is a key component of your college applications. SAT Basics SAT Length 3 hours (plus 50 minutes if taking optional Essay) SAT Sections
Math
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
Essay (optional)
SAT Cost $46 ($60 if taking SAT with Essay) Highest SAT Score 1600 Average SAT Score 1060 About the SAT The SAT is an entrance exam used by most colleges and universities to make admissions decisions. The SAT is a multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper test created and administered by the College Board. The purpose of the SAT is to measure a high school student's readiness for college, and provide colleges with one common data point that can be used to compare all applicants. College admissions officers will review standardized test scores alongside your high school GPA, the classes you took in high school, letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors, extracurricular activities, admissions interviews, and personal essays. How important SAT scores are in the college application process varies from school to school. Overall, the higher you score on the SAT and/or ACT, the more options for attending and paying for college will be available to you. When should I take the SAT? Most high school students take the SAT, the ACT, or both during the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. It's important to leave time to re-take the test if you need to raise your score before you apply to college. The SAT exam is offered nationally every year in August, October, November, December, March, May, and June. View all upcoming SAT test dates. What is on the SAT? There are two SAT sections:
Math
Evidence-Based Reading and Writing
The SAT also includes an optional Essay section. SAT Essay scores are reported separately from overall test scores. Some colleges may require that you complete the SAT Essay. You can confirm each college's admissions policies on the school website or on our school profiles. How long is the SAT? The SAT is 3 hours long. If you choose to take the SAT with Essay, the test will be 3 hours and 50 minutes. How is the SAT scored? Each section of the SAT is scored on a 200 to 800 point scale. Your total SAT score is the sum of your section scores. The highest possible SAT score is 1600. If you take the Essay, you will receive a separate score. Should I take the SAT or the ACT? Most colleges and universities will accept scores from either the SAT or ACT, and do not favor one test over the other. That said, college-bound students are increasingly taking both the SAT and ACT. Changes made to the SAT in 2016 have made it easier than ever to prep for both tests concurrently—and earn competitive scores on both! The best way to decide if taking the SAT, ACT, or both tests is right for you is to take a timed full-length practice test of each type. Since the content and style of the SAT and ACT are very similar, factors like how you handle time pressure and what types of questions you find most challenging can help you determine which test is a better fit. How do I register for the SAT? SAT registration deadlines fall approximately five weeks before each test date. Register online on the College Board website. The College Board may require SAT registration by mail under special circumstances.
The SAT is given 7 times per year: January, March/April, May, June, October, November, December.
Take the SAT 2-3 times. The most common plan is to take the PSAT in October of your junior year and then the SAT either once or twice in the spring of your junior year and then once or twice in the fall of your senior year.
It is smart to take both the ACT and SAT since every college in the country will take either score. You can use the score of whichever test you score higher on.
Order the “question and answer service” for the SAT if it is offered. This means they will send the entire test back to you so you can analyze which questions you got wrong. The College Board typically offers this service on the January, May, and October exams.
Most sections of the SAT go from easiest to hardest. This means that it is smarter to omit the questions at the end of the section if you have to omit any questions at all. The only sections that do not go in order of difficulty are the reading passage sections and the grammar passage sections.
You should do at least ½ of a practice test per week as you prepare for your exam. You should increase this to at least one practice test per week in each of the four weeks leading up to your exam. This means you should spend ½ hour per night preparing.
Spend about 1 minute per question on the math sections, 30 seconds per question on the sentence completion sections, and 1 minute per question on the reading comprehension sections.
Make sure you always time yourself when you are practicing sections in the blue book. The book tells you how much time you have for each section.
The most important math strategy by far is the strategy of “Plugging in numbers.” Anytime there is a variable in the question you should consider this strategy. This strategy can be used on approximately 20-25 of the 54 questions.
Know which formulas are given to you at the beginning of every math section before you sit down to take the SAT. The SAT provides you with the formulas for the circumference of a circle, the areas of a circle, square, and triangle, the volumes of a rectangular solid and cylinder, the formula for Pythagorean theorem, the formulas for 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles, and the number of degrees in a circle and a triangle. Don’t spend time memorizing these formulas; they will be given to you!
If you can eliminate at least one answer choice, guess. If you can’t eliminate, omit. Try to omit as few questions as possible because omitting doesn’t help your score. You should only omit when you have no idea.
You gain 1 point for each question correct and lose ¼ of a point for each question wrong. Omitting is a zero.
The only questions that you don’t lose points on are the 10 “grid-in” questions on the math portion of the SAT. On these, you might as well put an answer down for each one even if it is only a guess.
Ace the easy and medium questions. This is the key to a good score.
To solve a sentence completion question, read the sentence, decide what word you would put in the blank if you were writing the sentence, and then look for an answer choice that is closest. If you don’t know all of the words, eliminate the choices that don’t work and guess from the remaining choices.
On the reading passage questions, don’t read the whole passage at first. Just read the intro and the first 20 lines. This should take you about 30 seconds to a minute. Then go to the first question. You will be going back to the passage after you read a question to look for the hints they give you.
On the reading comprehension passages, make sure you read a few lines before and after the lines they tell you to go to. For example, if the question tells you to read lines 14 – 16, read lines 11 – 19.
Study the math and grammar packets; if you have this information memorized, you will have a huge advantage on the test.
There are 10 sections, but only 9 of the sections count towards your score. Unfortunately, you will not know which section doesn’t count so try your hardest on all of the sections.
Learning vocabulary is extremely important. Go to www.methodtestprep.com and use the “Vocabulary Builder” section to learn the most commonly used words on the SAT.
Go into the SAT with confidence, competitiveness, and try to relax as much as possible.
The grammar questions make up 70% of your writing score and the essay makes up the other 30%.
It is a smart idea to take a full practice SAT in one sitting to get used to concentrating for the length of an entire exam. Have someone time you or time yourself so you get used to working under pressure.