Want to Be More Than a Test Score?

Tired of tests? Do you know there are a handful of top colleges and universities that are test optional? Test optional schools allow the applicant, not the college, to decide whether to submit their SAT or ACT scores.

"Hundreds of top-notch colleges are willing to view applicants as more than a test score," says Bob Schaeffer, public education director at the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, better known as FairTest. Research confirms what many schools have long suspected: Test scores do not always predict which students will excel on campus. A 2014 report from two former Bates College admissions officials, William Hiss and Valerie Franks, analyzed student performance data from 33 test-optional schools and showed a difference of just five-hundredths of a point in GPA and six-tenths of one percent in graduation rates between non-submitters and submitters (Lewis 1).

So, how do you students decide whether to submit your scores or not? If you feel that your scores will improve how admissions officials rank your application in their mix, then submit them. If you do some research and find that your scores are lower than the average accepted in the past, you can hold them back.

"We want to remove fear and frenzy from the application equation," says Martha Allman, Dean of Admissions at test-optional Wake Forest University in North Carolina. "We’re more interested in who you really are." At a Wake Forest admissions forum that College Sage attended on June 17, 2016, Martha Allman said Wake Forest is most interested in two priorities: "your academic achievements (your intellectualism) and your character.” She went on to suggest that the best high school preparation for getting admitted to Wake Forest is to wake up each day asking yourself "How can I be a better person? How can I be a better student?” Students will want to watch this space as more and more colleges, including selective colleges, head in this direction.

Here is a list of the top 30 test-optional colleges, according to www.colleges.niche.com