06 May Thoughts on Testing & Elite Colleges

If you’re planning to apply to the most selective colleges (those with acceptance rates under 15% or ), there’s a a shift unfolding that you should be thinking about. While most colleges are still test-optional, some of the most competitive ones have returned to mandatory testing. Several state university systems have restored test requirements as well. As a result, students in the applicant pools for these schools will be focusing on test prep to a greater degree than they have been for the last few years.  Then, they’ll be submitting strong scores to these schools as well as to similar ones on their lists.

For example, students applying to Penn will be doing everything possible to max out their scores . . . and then will likely be sending them to test-optional schools like Hopkins, Duke and Northwestern. Likewise, a student applying to Georgia Tech needs SAT or ACT scores, and will prep accordingly.  Then they’ll probably share those scores with their other colleges, which might include Michigan, Wisconsin and the University of Maryland.  So if these test-optional schools are on your list, keep in mind that a lot of your competition will have scores to submit—very good ones. As a result, students looking at top schools, even those that are test-optional, may want to give some extra focus to getting SAT and ACT scores this spring and summer that will be in line with what the competition will have.