More Universities Extend Test-Optional Policies

Yale University and Princeton University recently extended their test-optional admissions policies through the fall of 2023, which means that all eight Ivy League schools will remain test-optional for at least another year. And the Ivies, of course, are not alone in extending their test-optional admissions policies among the highly selective … 

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Our Dare to Test-Optional Colleges

All of the Ivy League schools went “test-optional” this year. So too did many other elite universities across America. Due to all the test cancelations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, these schools largely had no choice but to temporarily not require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. But as … 

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Take Those Admissions Tests

During a year in which the vast majority of our nation’s highly selective colleges have gone test-optional, it likely doesn’t surprise any of our readers to know that we urge applicants to submit test scores anyway. This is the case unless of course a university forbids the submission of certain … 

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Test-Optional is Malarkey

When a school goes test-optional — as all the Ivy League schools did this year — it means that a student with great scores has no advantage over a student with no scores, right? Wrong. All else being equal, at highly selective colleges that have gone test-optional, a student with … 

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The PR Spin of Colleges

File this one as too cute. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) — to which we are a member — recently put out a press release entitled “Nearly 400 NACAC-Member Colleges and Universities Affirm Test-Optional Means Test-Optional.” In the release, NACAC writes, “Nearly 400 college and university members … 

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A Nightmarish Year for College Board and ACT

Just how bad of a year has 2020 been for College Board, the maker of the SAT, the SAT Subject Tests, and the AP Tests, and ACT, the maker of its eponymous exam? Let’s just say it’s been their worst nightmare. You see, each and every year, a select number … 

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Last Rites for College Admissions Tests?

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on college admissions testing requirements at universities across America with the UC schools the latest to move away from the ubiquitous tests. Some schools have chosen to go test-optional for the Class of 2025. Some schools have chosen to go test-optional in perpetuity. Some … 

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Elite Schools Still Want Test Scores

In a Wall Street Journal article about Cornell University’s decision to go test-optional for the Class of 2025, journalist Melissa Korn writes, “Some other Ivy League schools, including Princeton and Brown universities, have informed current high school juniors that they don’t expect students to take the ACT or SAT multiple … 

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Tufts University Goes Test-Optional

Tufts University has joined the ranks of test-optional universities — albeit not necessary on a permanent basis but rather for a period of three years. While there are many test-optional universities, there are not tons of highly selective test-optional universities like the University of Chicago, Middlebury College, Bates College, and … 

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Ivy Coach on Spectrum News

Ivy Coach’s Jayson Weingarten, a former University of Pennsylvania admissions officer, was featured on television yesterday discussing all things standardized testing — from test-optional schools to new policies in the works from College Board and ACT and more. So what did Jayson have to say? Well, surprise surprise. He’s a … 

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