A month into the current school year, and The College Board is already calling for students to determine if they’ll take Advanced Placement (AP) tests in May 2022. Thus, high school site based AP Coordinators and teachers are asking students their intentions as well as sending parent emails asking for registration fees. Potential AP exam takers have also recently returned…
On May 14, 2021, University of California (UC) officials agreed to extend “test-free” admissions policies through Fall 2025, meaning SAT or ACT scores will not be required nor considered in either admissions or scholarship considerations for the next four application cycles. Current Class of 2022 high school juniors through current eighth graders will be affected by the settlement agreement in…
And, as Bart Simpson exemplifies once again, a test without context can create conflicting results far removed from reality. Answering standardized multiple choice questions, at a single moment in the time-space continuum, subject to emotional reactions and human temperament, then interpreted in a formulaic analysis, identifying aptitude without ever seeking the view of the kid whose future has now been…
On September 1, 2020, a California Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction, to be finalized on September 29, 2020, barring the use of SAT and ACT scores in Fall 2021 University of California (UC) admissions evaluations. Essentially, the judge implemented a “test-blind” admissions policy, meaning SAT or ACT scores cannot be considered, even if submitted, in UC admissions for…
Like Bart Simpson above, college applicants typically are nervous about taking tests, yet with the lingering pandemic, their anxieties may be more complex. Both the ACT and The College Board added testing opportunities, beyond the usual test schedule, to compensate for cancelled Spring 2020 tests. Between July and December 2020, the ACT will be offered nine (9) different dates and…
This past week, three more U.S. News & World Report top #25 universities Georgetown University, Stanford University and Princeton University suspended the requirement of SAT or ACT scores for Fall 2021 first year applicants. One Stanford student, amongst others, were frustrated by the policy changes, as for many years, they believed (and were taught) that test scores were essential components…
Following both Brown’s and Yale’s test-optional announcements, yesterday evening, June 15, Harvard became the seventh Ivy League college to suspend the requirement of SAT and ACT scores for Fall 2021 first year applicants. Why is Princeton, as the last remaining Ivy League, still requiring standardized test scores for Fall 2021 first year applicants? Since the Ivy League can be considered…
On June 12, Yale University officials joined almost 200 universities which have suspended the requirement of SAT and ACT scores for Fall 2021 first year applicants. Like many other universities, Yale’s amended testing policy only applies for the 2020-21 admissions cycle. Yale officials reasoned: This one-year policy change reflects the extraordinary circumstances that students, families, and educators are currently facing. …
On Wednesday, June 3, The College Board announced that the online, at-home SAT will not be available for Fall 2021: The College Board will pause on offering an at-home SAT this year because taking it would require three hours of uninterrupted, video-quality internet for each student, which can’t be guaranteed for all. After The College Board pronouncement, several universities’ admissions…
Yesterday, Thursday, May 21, the University of California (UC) Board of Regents unanimously voted to eliminate the SAT and ACT as a requirement for all first year applicants by 2025. Over the next five years, the UC will phase in the elimination of the SAT and ACT scores from consideration in first year admissions. For Fall 2021 and Fall 2022…
