Optional Test Submission: A Marketing Ploy or a Strategic Advantage?
It’s that time of the year when college entrance testing tends to dominate the thought process of many would be college applicants. This is too bad as students should be concerning themselves with far more substantive matters than whether they have test scores that will get them the prized admission offer they so desperately seek.
As I have noted before in this space, testing does not have to be the bane of a young person’s existence. Most colleges would confirm (ask to see their validity studies) that the testing is not terribly useful as a diagnostic (the purpose for which it was developed) and its usefulness has been reduced to, more than anything, that of a competitive credential. That said, I continue to be encouraged by the number of colleges that are making the submission of tests optional for some or all of their applicants. In effect, they are acknowledging, “We can make good decisions about whom to admit with test results.” According to Bob Schaeffer, Public Education Director for FairTest.org, the number now stands at 757 colleges and universities. His website lists each of these schools in alphabetical order.
When I made reference to the test optional opportunity that exists at a growing number of schools during a presentation earlier this week, a parent asked, somewhat incredulously, “Won’t colleges assume that it you don’t submit scores that you are trying to hide low results?”
Good question. In fact, I have heard the assertion that the test optional schools are simply using the option as a marketing ploy to attract applicants and raise their institutional testing profiles (because, presumably, low test scores are no longer reported). While those might be secondary outcomes for such schools, it is my experience that the rationale for going test optional runs much deeper. Many schools with test requirements feel obligated to admit students according to their respective institutional testing profiles. In the process, they rather arbitrarily dismiss candidates who are otherwise very compelling, but whose scores would “hurt the profile.”
The removal of the testing requirement frees admission officers to focus their deliberations on the personal strengths and attributes of the student without concern for how a score might affect their institutional academic profiles. The day that my school went test optional in the admission process was like a day of liberation for my colleagues and me. Free from the “tyranny of numbers,” we were able to admit the students who were most compelling to us.
Interestingly, when we studied the records of all the admitted (and enrolled) students after the fact, we found that the testing profiles of the non-submitters was almost identical to that of the submitters–and it included a number of kids who elected not to submit perfect scores presumably because they wanted to be valued for the other things they did well! Did we admit kids who benefited by not having to submit substandard scores? Sure–and they did very well in college and in life after school. Similarly, we admitted more than a few students over the years who submitted high test scores but relatively modest high school records who did not find the same success.
The bottom line is this: if testing is not your thing or you are philosophically opposed to its place in the admission process, you should feel more than comfortable exploring the 757 colleges and universities that have made the submission of tests optional. They have defined a different paradigm for decision-making that, quite frankly, is student-centered. And that’s a good thing!
Stay tuned for more discussion about the topic as the December 19 Straight Talk About College Admission “Getting Started” Teleseminar (8 PM ET) will focus on “The Role of Testing and the Value of Test Prep.”
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