Test-Optional Update: 2022

During lockdown, official SAT and ACT exams (among others) were completely disrupted, leading to an unprecedented wave of temporary and permanent test-optional policies. Over the past year or so, as the nation has slowly reopened, many standardized tests are now being offered to students again. And yet, many colleges are sticking to their test-optional policies. So, you might be asking: how are admissions officers deciding who gets admitted and who doesn’t? That’s a great question! Unfortunately, there is no real concrete answer we can give. 

In early 2022, Kelly Slay, an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University, began conducting in-depth interviews with college admissions officers from various colleges around the country. An article published in The Hechinger Report details Slay’s findings. “According to Slay, admissions officers often described a ‘chaotic’ and ‘stressful’ process where they lacked clear guidance on how to select students without test scores.” Slay’s research shows that without proper guidance, admissions officers are left to their own opinions on whether a student should or should not be admitted, often bringing in other officers to give second and third opinions. What this means is that each individual officer’s biases tend to tip the scale one way or the other. There is no concrete guidance on how each officer should proceed.

What does this mean for your student?
The answer is obvious: begin prep early, take the SAT or ACT (or both), and submit the scores if they are competitive. There’s no point in submitting low scores. Be sure to check the average scores of each college’s students, and aim to earn as far above that as possible. Though the lack of scores won’t necessarily be used against your student, you can bet that strong submitted scores will definitely work in their favor.