To Test or Not to Test, Is That the Question?

Three Essential Things to Know About Test Optional Policies

The question of whether to test or not is simple to answer—yes, you should test. Take both the SAT and ACT in order to gauge your relative performance, and then, should it be necessary, test again. And again. Conventional wisdom suggests that three attempts is the max, so long as the test-taker puts in their best effort to prepare for each test date.

You’ll want to have these scores in mind as you build out your school list. Most schools will prominently feature their testing policy on the admissions website, but those applicants looking to build out a list in part based on the requirement or lack thereof may find an easy to navigate catalogue of accredited, bachelor’s degree granting colleges and universities with test optional or test free admissions policies at Fair Test.

Now, as we at Dimension Admissions have been shouting from the figurative mountaintop for years, testing is making its comeback. The number of test takers has increased by over 10% year-over-year since the pandemic, and the emergence of a shorter, digital version of the SAT seems to have made the test more appealing. Consequently, a number of schools have recently made headlines by reinstating testing requirements. These include: Brown, Caltech, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Yale, while Duke, Princeton, and UPenn have all put an expiration date on their test optional policies.

 

Let’s be clear about one thing—admissions officers at our nation’s most selective schools have their work cut out for them when it comes to differentiating candidates. In addition to being highly skilled artists or athletes who are heavily involved in extracurriculars, most applicants boast an exceptional academic record in rigorous courses. But GPA can be a poor indicator of relative performance. I have personally worked at schools existing at opposite ends of the spectrum—one artificially lowered student GPAs to make the academic environment appear more competitive, while another inflated them to make students more appealing to colleges. In the former, students were exceedingly stressed and grade-conscious, while the latter undercut truly talented, hard-working students who had little more than a minus after the “A” separating themselves from other students who simply fulfilled basic requirements. Notably, and somewhat ironically given its own average GPA for undergraduates, Harvard cited grade inflation as one of the reasons for its abrupt and unexpected reversal of its test optional policies this April.

Of course, high schools with an established record are known entities, making it possible for undergraduate institutions to compare current applicants against their predecessors who were accepted and enrolled at the institution itself. But that doesn’t change the fact that standardized tests offer an objective metric by which to compare students, especially to themselves. What I mean is—if a student has a 4.7 weighted GPA and an 1160 combined SAT, it will raise some eyebrows. If, on the other hand, a student has straight A’s and a 35 ACT, consider the academic transcript validated.

In short, admissions officers scour the landscape for any opportunity to differentiate candidates, many of whom are technically qualified to perform the work at their institution. There is no better objective metric on a national scale than the standardized test.

The real question as it relates to this post is one I get from clients all the time—Should I submit my scores to a test-optional school? The answer, as you’ll see in number three below, is subjective. But there are some generally agreed upon principles that will help to clarify this decision for you. So, let’s talk about the three essential things to know about test optional policies:

 

1. Take schools at their word.

If a school says it’s test-optional, it means it. Admissions officers will evaluate your application in a holistic fashion, and not count against you the fact that you decided to withhold scores. But, as is the case with everything in life, it’s not quite so clear cut—schools exist on a spectrum. To that end, it’s always a good idea to review testing policies for each school, as the language used on their website may offer insight into their preference for or against submitting. But let’s be clear about one thing: if two students are tied in their esteem, and one submits solid scores while the other does not, the submitter will be an admitted student.

 

 

2. Don’t be daunted by official performance data.

The scores submitted to test optional schools will generally skew higher than the true average for admitted students. This is because schools are only reporting data for students who report it themselves. Students who who didn’t perform as well on their standardized tests, but who were accomplished enough in other ways to earn acceptance, will not be included in the reported data. So, don’t discount yourself based on testing data alone. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that established schools (the most selective) might be willing to take a risk on a student who present strengths in different areas, while a school that is trying to climb the ranks might not be in a position to accept someone who would lower their average for admitted students. Remember what we said in #1 above about things not being clear cut?

3. Whether to submit or not is an answerable question.

Many schools feature admissions data on their website to help potential applicants make informed decisions. Yale, for instance, provides data for the middle 80% of their enrolled students—ACT Composite (31-36), SAT Reading & Writing (680-790), SAT Math (690-800)—on their What Yale Looks For page.

 

But the Common Data Set is also a fantastic resource for the data hungry among you. For Yale, you might search Yale University Common Data Set to find this link. Like many highly selective schools, Yale keeps meticulous records of its data sets. Choose the most recent filing, in this case CDS 2023-2024, and navigate to the section indicating “First-time, first-year Profile.” On page 13, you’ll find a scores breakdown. For Yale, the composite scores for students in the 50^th percentile admitted in 2024 were SAT: 1540, and ACT: 34. While the emergence of the new SAT will put an asterisk next to score data for a few years—the new, adaptive test, is not scoring the same as the old—in general, you want to compare your scores to the data for the upper-middle quartile (50-75%) of reported scores for admitted and enrolled students. If your scores don’t meet the mark, and you’ve still got energy and time for another attempt, set a new test date and study up.

The upshot is—an applicant should submit scores if and when their performance is better than the median score submitted to that particular school. If your scores exist in a grey area, consider how you are presenting as a candidate in your overall profile, and whether submitting your score benefits or detracts from the picture you hope admissions officers will form in their head when reviewing your file. In general, schools will assume a student who withholds scores underperformed by about 100-150 points.

Should you have specific questions about your applications, Dimension Admissions is here to help. Schedule your free consultation today. Until then, we wish you the best of luck in this crucial process!