Apply to College? The Pandemic is (Still) Changing Testing
By Peter M on Updated:
As if 2020 wasn’t enough of a wild ride, 2021 is proving to continue the upheaval of college admissions–and yes, we’re only a month in.
Early last year, our CEO Reetu Gupta voiced her expert opinion on higher education to the Puget Sound Business Journal. Her take was clear in May 2020: Covid-19 could spell the end for standardized testing.
But how? Decades of students have been taking the SAT/ACT to prove their academic ability to their prospective colleges and universities. Can a pandemic change a “tradition” founded in 1926?
Well, it can and it did.
Let’s start with cancellation of SAT/ACT testing. As cases and deaths rose quickly across the country, colleges began pulling requirements for standardized testing. In May, shortly after our CEO’s op-ed, colleges started dropping requirements, citing safety concerns and access for students in marginalized communities heavily affected by the pandemic. We were introduced to a new phrase in college admissions: “Test Optional”.
One by one, colleges announced their decisions to move to test optional. Not surprisingly, this created mass confusion for students and parents. Simply put, they did not believe colleges. Many asked the question, “But if I take it, will it increase my chances?”
“I do think parents believe test-optional colleges when they communicate that students without test scores will be competitive applicants,” said Debbie Schwartz, founder and operator of the Facebook group. “But there’s still skepticism whether students with a test score will have an advantage over a student without a test score.” (via USA Today)
Not only were colleges going test optional and some scraping the test all together, but remaining testing sites themselves were setting up barriers for students to even get in the door to take the test. Afterall, some students did WANT to take the test to still submit scores.
For example, Washington D.C.’s WTOP reported in September that parents and students were furious over site closures with no notice.
“Of the 334,000 students registered to take the SAT this weekend, 154,000 are unable to due to test centers closing. Only 65% of all test centers are currently still open for testing next month, and about a fourth of those are already at capacity,” the station reported.
You can read about more SAT/ACT closures and furious parents and students from Forbes and Inside Higher Ed.
As the year pressed forward, we watched the downfall before our very eyes. Queue the University of California Supreme Court case. In September 2020, a judge ordered that the University of California must stop all use of SAT and ACT in admissions, citing that students with disabilities couldn’t access tests during a pandemic.
“There’s never been such a thing as a level playing field to admissions for our most underrepresented students, but this ruling at least evened that field a significant bit,” said Mark Rosenbaum, a director of the public interest law firm Public Counsel, which is one of the firms representing plaintiffs in the lawsuit. (via EdSource)
This was a huge blow to standardized testing. But wait, there’s more. Colleges continued to go test optional, students were desperate to take the ACT/SAT, and the pandemic raged on, creating chaos and devastation.
Perhaps the biggest blow came as we kicked off 2021.
“The College Board announced on Tuesday that it will discontinue the optional essay component of the SAT and that it will no longer offer subject tests in U.S. history, languages and math, among other topics. The organization, which administers the college entrance exam in addition to several other tests, including Advanced Placement exams, will instead focus efforts on a new digital version of the SAT,” wrote Elissa Nadworny for NPR.
The organization cited the pandemic for these changes.
“The pandemic has highlighted the importance of being innovative and adaptive to what lies ahead. We are committed to making the SAT a more flexible tool, and we are making substantial investments to do so. We’re consulting with our members in K–12 and higher education and will have more to share about that work later this spring.”
Wow.
Did COVID-19 completely upend ALL college admissions? Interestingly, Common App data showed some surprising finds: The larger and more competitive colleges and universities are having a good year and have increased application numbers. HOWEVER, smaller and less competitive colleges are not. Plus, first-generation students and those who lack the money to pay for an application are not applying at the same rates they used to.
So, what’s next? Just a few days ago, the first Ivy League college, Cornell, announced it will be suspending the SAT/ACT requirement for both the classes of 2021 and 2022 applicants. And last week Penn State announced that it will extend its test-optional policies through 2023, Grown and Flown reported.
Friends, students, and colleagues, we’re keeping a CLOSE eye on the future of college admissions. Needless to say, the past year and pandemic have completely upended the entire college system. For the most up-to-date news, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.