How Selective Are Test Optional Schools?

August 24th, 2009

More than 800 colleges in the USAT do not require SAT or ACT scores. Most of these institutions are technical or religious schools or schools that have open admissions policies. But there are about two dozen selective liberal arts colleges, including Smith and Bowdoin, for whom the submission of test scores is optional.

Not requiring tests can make a school appear more selective because it generates more applicants. Typically, when schools switch to a test-optional policy, they experience a 10-20% increase in applications. With more applicants to choose from, schools can reject more students and seem choosier. As it turns out, many of those applicants will typically have lower SAT or ACT scores. Students who opt not to report scores statistically score 100 to 150 points lower than students who do divulge test results. Since about 25-50% of applicants’ scores go unreported to these colleges, the average scores of admitted students are raised by 25-75 points, a fact that makes the school seem more competitive to applicants.

Here’s an example of how that works: Before Mount Holyoke went test-optional in 2001, its middle 50% SAT range (a frequently cited test barometer) was 1170-1360. A few years later, with roughly 70 percent of freshmen submitting scores, the range jumped to 1230-1420, an increase of 60 points on both ends.

The end result is that a school that does not require the SAT or ACT can appear more of an academic heavy-weight on paper than it actually is. Families should also be aware that many test-optional schools do require submission of scores to qualify for merit scholarships. So, when considering the test-optional schools, make sure you do your homework before you apply!

Test Optional Schools:

Albright
American — for Early Decision only *
Assumption
Bates
Bowdoin
College of the Holy Cross
Dickinson *
Franklin & Marshall
Gettysburg *
Goucher *
Gustavus Adolphus *
Hampshire
Hobart & William Smith *
Lake Forest *
Lawrence University*
Loyola (MD)
Mount Holyoke
Muhlenberg*
Providence College
Rollins
Saint Lawrence
Sarah Lawrence
Smith
Wake Forest

* Test scores are required for merit scholarships.

From http://www.scoreatthetop.com/blog/

Common Application Questions and Answers

The following questions were submitted to me by a number of parents, so I want to share my responses (in bold) with you. These questions and answers refer to specific schools but can be applied generally.

1. The college application that I downloaded said that my daughter could attach a personal statement. What is a personal statement, and does she really need to write one?

A personal statement is the same as the main essay a student uses for the Common Application. While the application indicates that sending an essay is optional, I firmly believe that optional means required when it comes to the application process.

2. Is there any advantage to selecting a major versus selecting exploratory? Is it better to apply to the School of Arts and Sciences or to another program?

A student should indicate a specific major, preferably one that can be supported by academics or extracurricular activities, as it makes him or her seem focused. The student is not bound to that particular major—unless he or she attends a specialized school, such as Business or Engineering. Arts & Sciences programs—which most students choose—are easier to get into than Business programs.

3. What is a block schedule?

Some schools use semesters. Some use trimesters. Still others, such as Cornell, use block scheduling—in which students focus intensely to complete one course in four weeks—and then move on to the next one.

4. The SAT section (#19) on the paper application asks for the dates that a student took the college admission tests. Brett took the SAT twice but wants to submit only his January scores since those are his best. Does he need to mention both test dates, or can he cite only the date for which he is submitting his scores?

Indiana University does not require all SAT scores, so Brett can cite only the date of his best score set.

5. When my older daughter applied to college, she submitted a paper application—not an electronic one—so this process is a bit new to me. Are paper applications even used anymore?

No one uses paper applications nowadays! Colleges far prefer electronically submitted applications as they process everything on computer!

6. As long as we keep saving the applications we fill in, it’s okay to return to them later. Right?

YES! Most applications do not have to be completed in one sitting. A student can work on an application, save it, and return to it later, just as he or she can when writing a paper using MS Word. Nothing goes to the college until your child pushes the submit button!

National Merit Cutoff Score for the Class of 2008
June 30, 2009

NE = 207
AL = 209 NH = 215
AK = 213 NJ = 221
AZ = 211 NM = 208
AR = 201 NY = 219
CA = 217 NV = 208
CO = 213 OH = 211
CT = 217 OK = 207
DC = 223 OR = 213
DE = 219 PA = 214
FL = 212 RI = 212
GA = 214 SC = 210
HI = 213 SD = 203
IA = 209 TN = 213
ID = 204 TX = 215
IL = 213 UT = 202
IN = 213 VA = 217
KS = 212 VT = 216
KY = 208 WA = 215
LA = 206 WI = 208
MA = 223 WV = 200
MD = 221 WY = 200
ME = 211
MI = 209
MN =213
MO = 211
MS = 202
MT = 207
NC = 214
ND = 202

Juniors, get ready! Get Set! Go! Take action now!

Here are a few important tasks to make you college–application ready:

1. Register NOW for your SAT 1, ACT and SAT 2s (subject tests)!

Planning ahead will help ease the pressure you will encounter during junior year. We still see students who wait until the spring of their junior year to take their first ACT and/or SAT. That’s way too late! Start preparing now! Based on your math level, your GPA, your reading habits and abilities, think about testing as early as December. If you are a junior, you will take your PSAT on Wednesday, October 14 or Saturday, October 17, 2009. Even though you will not receive your scores until November or early December, you can still plan to take your first ACT as early as December or February. If you have good PSAT scores, you may even consider taking your first SAT as early as January! We can’t over-stress the importance of timely, targeted test preparation. Once you set a benchmark for yourself from your first set of scores, you will know your strengths and weaknesses. Chappaqua Learning Center can help you every step of the way.

2. Plan to take SAT Subject Tests in May or June.

If you have not already taken an SAT Subject Test, plan to do so in May or June of your junior year. The more competitive colleges require or recommend two or three Subject Tests for admissions. CLC recommends that you take your Subject Tests while you prepare for your AP or IB exams--while the information is still fresh in your mind. Do not wait until October to take Subject Tests for the first time; you may want to retake an SAT or Subject Test at that time.

3. Meet with your guidance counselor.

Encourage your parents to attend a local college fair or college night at your school. Speak to your guidance counselor before that, though. With so many students to talk to, your guidance counselor needs all the help you can provide in order to give you proper help. Cultivate a good relationship. Look for cues about the best time to approach your counselor. Collaborate!


4. Work on a long list, then a short list of colleges to visit during first-semester school holidays, February, and Spring breaks.

Take a tour, attend an information session, sit in on classes, dine in the student center, and talk to college students at every opportunity. You don’t want to apply blindly. Besides, visiting college campuses can help improve your chances for admission!

5. Identify teachers who can write your college recommendations.

Colleges prefer recommendations from sophomore and junior-year academic teachers. As the school year begins, you need to identify and cultivate strong relationships with the teachers who can write you a great recommendation. Talk with these teachers about your work in and out of class--and even about their thoughts on colleges for you. Teachers like to know that you’re planning ahead.


Posted in Score at the Top Learning Centers’ Blog

Colleges Ask Donors to Help Meet Demand for Aid

By STEPHANIE STROM

Published: April 15, 2009

Faced with one of the most challenging fund-raising environments anyone can remember, colleges and universities are appealing to donors to help meet the swelling demand for financial aid.

Using such demand “as a fund-raising tool totally makes sense in this environment,” said Richard J. Krasney, a wealth manager and philanthropy adviser. “More than ever, people want to know that their money is being used to address current needs.”

Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., has increased its financial aid budget for the coming school year by 7.5 percent, to $21.5 million, a point its fund-raisers are making to donors.

“The incoming student body for the fall of 2009 will have higher financial needs than in the past,” said Clay Ballantine, Hampshire’s chief advancement officer. “I tell donors these are excellent students and we want to take financial concerns out of their decision-making process, and we’re looking to you to provide a gift that will help us do that.”

Chapman University in Orange, Calif., has seen demand for financial aid increase 88 percent — and that does not include requests for support from students accepted for next fall. “We’re very open and honest about that in all our communications, and it resonates,” said Sheryl Bourgeois, executive vice president of university advancement.

Ms. Bourgeois has shared letters from students with potential donors. Typical of the letters is one from a young woman whose mother holds down two jobs to keep her daughter in school but just lost her house.

Telling potential donors about the surge in need helped Chapman exceed the $175,000 goal it had set for its phone-a-thon this year. Its gala, slated to raise $2 million, raised $2.1 million.

More recently, though, things have slowed.

“It is getting tougher,” Ms. Bourgeois said. “I think maybe people have had even more requests coming to them from other nonprofit groups.”

Just a year ago, universities were emphasizing new buildings, research and sports centers and faculty recruitment in their fund-raising pitches, but those things turn people off now, experts in fund-raising said.

Mitchell Moore, vice president for advancement at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., said the university was making a case to donors that money raised through its annual fund campaign would be spent on immediate needs.

At the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, fund-raisers are telling potential donors that some $30 million in requests for aid remain outstanding. The endowment is down 25.6 percent, and Gov. Bev Perdue has proposed cutting state financing to the University of North Carolina system by 5 percent.

“We have a lot of donors who’ve given to our annual fund consistently for 30 years but have never been challenged to increase the amount they give,” said Patti Stewart, vice chancellor for university advancement at Greensboro. “We’re doing a better job now of asking them to do that, and it’s a good thing we have.”

U.N.C. Greensboro’s annual fund has collected 6 percent less than it did last year, Ms. Stewart said. In the past, the annual fund has raised 3 percent to 5 percent more each year. She said she expected to hit the annual fund target of $3 million by the end of the school year, which would be flat compared with last year.

Hamilton College’s $6 million annual fund drive is already flat compared with last year, and that makes Jon Hysell, director of annual giving, happy. “Flat is the new up,” Mr. Hysell said.

The college, in Clinton, N.Y., based its pitch on a recent alumni survey in which almost 90 percent said they wanted their donations to support scholarships.

“So, rather than talking about how a $100 donation buys 45 compact fluorescent light bulbs, we’re talking about how their gift affects a student in need,” Mr. Hysell said.

Several institutions said they were also approaching donors who had created endowed scholarship funds that had lost value. Laws in roughly half the states prohibit charities from spending out of endowed funds that have fallen below their initial dollar value, which has crippled many charities at a time when money is scarce.

Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., has begun approaching donors who established such funds and asking them to consider making a gift to offset the loss of the money that would normally flow from those funds.

“If someone created a $100,000 endowed fund that is now under water, I’ll ask them to make a $5,000 gift, which is about what their fund would generate for our use under normal conditions,” said Charles Lewis, Millsaps’s vice president for institutional advancement. “We have several donors considering that now.”

Next Article in Education (1 of 23) » A version of this article appeared in print on April 16, 2009, on page A16 of the New York edition.