Last week, the UC school system put out a statement that said that all UC schools will be drastically relaxing the admissions standards for the upcoming round of applicants. You can read the full statement here, but the main takeaways are that they suspended the letter grade requirements for A-G courses, and have done away with the standardized test requirement for current high school juniors.
UC stressed that this decision was made to accommodate students who are doing their best to make decisions about college in the age of Coronavirus, and that this move is not indicative of a permanent change in policy. Speaking about this internally, we believe that additional colleges, especially public schools that rely on state funding, could follow suit. As of this writing, Boston University, Case Western, Tufts, Pomona, Westminster College, all Oregon state schools, and many others have gone test-optional for the upcoming year.
We already know that when schools have no application fees and no required writing supplements, it’s much easier to apply. Doing away with the SAT and ACT is no different. By easing admissions requirements, two things will ~likely~ happen:
Just as many students, if not more students, will apply.
More international and out-of-state students will apply, which leads to more tuition money.
Colleges are businesses, and it can be disheartening to think that decisions are made for financial reasons rather than out of benevolence. But as always, we are trying to demystify the process of applying to college. If you’re a high school junior, or a parent of a high school student, it’s completely understandable to feel overwhelmed by the college process right now. We’re here to help. And as we continue monitoring the situation and waiting for these decisions to be made, we’d like to address the question that we seem to be getting a lot: “What should I do about preparing for the SAT and ACT?”
In short, keep studying. While we agree that the upcoming test schedule is unpredictable, and that canceling additional tests will clog the system, we are also expecting the college board to add additional test dates later this summer if and when things clear up. While things stay up in the air, the uncertainty has caused some students to stop preparing. Free time can be paralyzing, so we have done some reframing with our clients. We like to think of it like this: you now have more time to prepare for your standardized tests. In the sad absence of extracurricular activities, sports, and simply being within six feet of another person, it’s fair to say that most high school students have a lot more time to prepare for standardized tests. And while it’s not the most fun use of your time, it is likely to hugely pay off. Time blocking can be an effective way to navigate these times, and we suggest setting aside a certain amount of time per day to prepare for the SAT and/or ACT.
We do expect more schools to announce the decision to go test-optional this year. However, and we can not stress this enough (!!), hoping that your dream school decides to go test-optional between now and November is NOT an application strategy. We want to avoid a situation in which you fail to prepare and have no choice but to take a standardized test three months from now.
We will continue to monitor the situation for our readers and clients, and update the blog accordingly. If you need help managing your time and preparing for application season, contact us here.