January, 2006- Drew University and Lawrence University recently joined a growing list of liberal arts colleges that have made the submission of standardized test scores optional. According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, about a quarter of all colleges nationwide no longer require standardized tests. Is it possible that standardized tests -- criticized for cultural bias and for favoring students who can afford to pay for expensive test preparation courses -- may become increasingly less relevant to the admissions process, even at very selective colleges and universities? Despite the criticism, a majority of colleges still require students to submit standardized test scores to account for inconsistencies in grading and preparation. What is the future of standardized testing for college admissions?
Norman Fainstein
President of ConnecticutCollege
(860) 439-2211
norman.fainstein@conncoll.edu
College admissions should not be a matter of absolutes. Nor should the use of standardized tests. Since 1994 Connecticut College has sought a compromise in standardized testing -- applicants can opt out of the SAT I, but must submit two SAT II subject area tests or the ACT. Eleven freshmen classes later, the data, our student population and our admission profiles show that this compromise is effective. The SAT-I is a burden on students and forces them to focus not on their education and interests, but test preparation. However, the SAT II subject tests, and the ACT, are attractive in that they measure subject area mastery and provide opportunities for students to bolster their applications. Results also allow admission counselors to compare high school rigor and to measure ability. This enables the college admission process to continue striving toward a holistic and comprehensive system, which ultimately benefits students and colleges.
Michael C. McFarland
President of College of the Holy Cross
(508) 793-2419
Eryder@holycross.edu
When the College of the Holy Cross announced this spring that we would no longer require standardized testing for admission, we heard cheers from many quarters, including teachers and guidance counselors who witness firsthand the money, time and anxiety that their students expend on testing. There were also cries of dismay that we were lowering academic standards. The truth is that it represents our commitment to a liberal arts education within our Jesuit tradition. The decision was the culmination of years of study, analysis and debate, all of which confirmed what we have believed for some time: a standardized test is not the best indicator of the kind of motivated, intellectually-engaged, high-achieving student we are seeking. Our decision is consistent with our search for the very best students who will thrive at Holy Cross — and beyond.
Christopher Nelson
President of St. John’sCollege
(443) 716-4011
Rosemary.Harty@sjca.edu
For at least 30 years now, St. John’s has not required prospective students to submit standardized test scores, and many applicants choose not to provide them. These scores provide a measure of a student’s ability to succeed in our demanding academic program, but we require them only from international or home-schooled students, or those leaving high school early.
Other indicators — high school transcripts, essays, recommendations — allow us to decide whether a student is likely to succeed at St. John’s. Only through the essays and personal interviews can we determine whether an applicant possesses the one criterion absolutely essential for success in a college such as St. John’s: a genuine desire to be here. That’s another reason we don’t use standardized scores as a “cut-off”; we might turn away students who don’t appear promising by traditional academic measures but will thrive in our discussion-based program.
Sharon Herzberger
President of WhittierCollege
(562) 907-4201
sherzberger@whittier.edu
One problem with this nation's focus on tests is that a score - even a set of scores -- has limited usefulness in most admissions offices, particularly those at liberal arts colleges. For example, we craft classes of students to match Whittier's mission and goals. Test scores offer some information about whether a student is likely to succeed academically (especially in the first year), but they do not tell us whether the student is likely to become a leader, whether he or she rebounds from failure to succeed in the end, and whether the student has learned to juggle a multitude of demands. At Whittier, every student counts in creating our community of scholars.
Tests may continue to serve a limited function, but must be considered in the context of the student's academic preparation and economic circumstances. They will never substitute for better means of getting to know our applicants' potential.
Joanne V. Creighton
President of MountHolyokeCollege
(413) 538-2000
jcreight@mtholyoke.edu
Mount Holyoke became SAT-optional in 2001, and our experience is telling. Internal research shows there is only a 0.09 difference between the college GPAs of students who submitted SAT scores and those who didn’t, and even this minor difference dissipates as students progress through to graduation. Further, when we compared submitters and non-submitters with the same SAT scores, non-submitters have higher college GPAs, which suggests that non-submitters have accurately concluded that their SAT scores were poor predictors of their academic potential.
SATs tend to produce false negatives, not false positives. In other words, strict adherence to SATs may guarantee a strong class, but it also excludes other able students. By making SATs optional, Mount Holyoke has provided access to the kinds of students who historically have been marginalized by elite higher education. At the same time, the academic quality of our classes has held constant or even improved. Everyone wins.
Esther L. Barazzone
President of ChathamCollege
(412) 365-1160
barazzone@chatham.edu
Chatham instituted an SAT-optional policy this November, which allows undergraduate applicants to submit graded test papers, their high school GPAs, and portfolios in lieu of ACT or SAT scores. We have often found that our most successful students often perform far better in the classroom than their standardized test scores indicated. By reviewing more predictable, long-term indicators, such as GPA, as well as qualitative material including graded papers and portfolios, we can better assess how a young woman will succeed at Chatham. Our students are creative, passionate leaders and self-directed individuals -- traits that are not easily ascertained by multiple-choice questions and timed essays. Even though the SAT has added an essay test, we think that our undergraduate and graduate faculty would be better judges of writing and creativity. We believe this new policy will have a positive impact not only in retention, but also in developing a dynamic class of students.
Daniel F. Sullivan
President of St. Lawrence University
(315) 229-5893
dsullivan@stlawu.edu
After several years of review and analysis, St. Lawrence University went standardized test optional this year. First, the Bates College research and our own research convinced us that having standardized test scores for all applicants was not improving our admissions decisions. Despite the fact that in statistical models standardized test scores do still have independent predictive power regarding grades of enrolled students, in our admissions process they have not added to our ability to judge who will succeed at St. Lawrence. Second, we believe that students with strong high school academic performance in demanding high school curricula but with lower test scores felt discouraged about applying to St. Lawrence even though, given our admissions emphasis on high school academic performance in a demanding curriculum, they likely would have been admitted, including outstanding U.S. students of color. That is our reasoning.
Ronald Crutcher
President of WheatonCollege
(508) 286-8235
mgraca@wheatoncollege.edu
Anyone who writes an obituary for standardized tests such as the SAT ignores an important but tragic reality: Only colleges capable of conducting the labor-intensive process of considering each applicant holistically can afford not to require test scores. Large universities, including many public schools, must rely on the tests, which conceal a host of problems, including bias. As the institutions that enroll the vast majority of first-generation and minority students, they risk overlooking potential scholars. We know that high school transcripts, graded writing samples, references and related materials better predict college success than standardized tests. Assessing the whole person allows us to offer admission to those who would benefit most from the personal approach to learning that highly selective liberal arts colleges provide. Wheaton's experience proves this point. Approximately 10 years ago the college made standardized test scores optional as we refined our holistic approach to admission. Since 2001 Wheaton has celebrated more than 50 national scholarship winners, including three Rhodes Scholars, something only one other U.S. liberal arts college has accomplished.
Joan Hinde Stewart
President of HamiltonCollege
(315) 859-4105
jstewart@hamilton.edu
Hamilton College offers a middle solution to the SAT debate. For the past five years, Hamilton has been SAT optional, but we still believe standardized tests have a place at highly selective colleges because fewer high schools are calculating class rank and grading practices are inconsistent. As a result, Hamilton lets applicants choose which tests to submit. Some might send the SAT or the ACT, others might send three AP or three SAT II tests, and still others might mix and match to create the testing portfolio that best represents them. Hamilton still places the most weight on the high school transcript: students should enroll in the most challenging courses available to them and do well in them. Our intent in de-emphasizing the SAT is to reduce families’ emotional and financial investment in test preparation and coaching. We want students to focus on their courses rather than their standardized testing.
Jill Beck
President of LawrenceUniversity
(920) 832-6525
jill.beck@lawrence.edu
Contrary to the notion that standardized tests are of the greatest value to the most highly selective colleges as they attempt to make fine distinctions between numerous well-qualified candidates, those colleges have the least true need for the tests in their admission processes. The high school scholastic records and achievements of applicants readily allow admission officers to identify the students who will likely excel at their institutions. From within those pools of qualified students, admission officers strive to admit the most interesting, talented and creative students — and standardized admission tests contribute nothing to an understanding of those attributes. Not only do such tests have limited added value in admission decisions, the widespread misuse of test scores by various rankings and the general public to judge the “quality” of a college vis-à-vis its peers and the education its provides ends up producing more harm than good.
Michele Tolela Myers
President of SarahLawrenceCollege
(914) 395-2218
mmyers@sarahlawrence.edu
Too often a college application is viewed in practical terms -- simply as a means to an end. However a college’s application requirements can serve to communicate the values of the institution. Standardized testing for college admission, as it exists today, suggests that the following characteristics are valued: stamina in sitting through an almost four-hour test, writing without regard for whether the information is factually correct and with no time for the critical process of revision, and the ability to afford a test-prep course that teaches how to “out-think” the test. At Sarah Lawrence College, we no longer use standardized testing in our admission process. We ask for multiple essays to gauge students’ ability to handle a writing-centered curriculum; we ask applicants about their intellectual passions, and we evaluate each candidate on his or her quest for learning for its own sake. In short, this decision has allowed us to engage applicants in a process that truly reflects what we as a college value.
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