Colleges Are Backing Off SAT, ACT Scores — But The Exams Will Be Hard To Shake
Like many high school counselors, Crys Latham has been paying close attention to the colleges that are announcing that they'll no longer require admissions exams for applicants. She's a big fan of giving students the opportunity not to submit their test scores.
"We put test-optional schools on every single one of our student's list to consider,'' says Latham, who directs college counseling at Washington Latin Public Charter School, in the nation's capital. "Because we know that not every student is going to like their scores, and a student's test scores are not indicative of their potential or ability to be successful."
In the last few months, Latham has had a lot of new schools to add to those lists. Nearly every day, more and more colleges announce plans to de-emphasize the role test scores play in admissions, even if only for next year's applicants.
It started almost as soon as the coronavirus closed down schools in the U.S. A wave of colleges announced that, due to the pandemic, they would put less weight on standardized tests. If students didn't have access to spring testing, how could colleges require them?
