Test-optional admissions policies give applicants the choice whether to submit testing. Test-blind admissions policies do not consider scores at all. Test-flexible admissions policies require an applicant to send test scores but allow them to submit other standardized test scores in lieu of the SAT or ACT (think 3 Subject Tests instead of the SAT or ACT).
Covid Outbreaks on College Campuses Nationwide, More Test-Optional News, Virtual Video Portfolios, and a Big Donation from Michael Bloomberg
This week’s college admissions news was again dominated by the impact of Covid on college and university campuses, though some changes to application processes (we’re looking at you, Brown and ASU) and spring semesters (Carnegie Mellon) are already underway. Northeastern University dismissed 11 first-year students and is keeping their tuition after they clearly violated safety protocols […]
Test-Blind Admissions
Thousands of schools across the country have moved to test-optional admissions for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, given the struggle students have had registering and actually sitting — safely — for exams. A few schools have gone a step further and have moved to test-blind admissions.
Success & Peaceful Coexistence During Covid: Strategies for College Admissions and Standardized Testing
Expert Admissions co-hosted a webinar entitled, “Success & Peaceful Coexistence During Covid: Strategies for Parents & Students.” The webinar provided tips for families of high school students embarking on the college application process as well as advice for families with college students and younger students living and learning at home.
Large State Systems Go Test-Optional, College Fairs Go Virtual, and Only Some Students Welcome on Campus Next Year
There’s some more test-optional news this week, and fall plans continue to evolve as many colleges near their opening days for first-year students. The University of North Carolina, University of Tampa, University of Tennesse-Knoxville, and UMass-Amherst all announced test-optional policies. The reversal of last week’s ICE ruling reverted to an old policy that protected some international students but not others: the old […]
Strict Guidelines for Campus Life, Changes to Fall Sports, and MIT Goes Test-Optional
From a whole new world of college sports to the new rules of on-campus socializing, college admissions news largely focused on policies relating to Fall 2020 this week. And keeping the test-optional news going, MIT is now added to the list. In application news, MIT suspended its SAT/ACT testing requirement for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle and Johns Hopkins added Early […]
What Colleges Care About During This Time of Crisis
So much has been changed and impacted by the Covid pandemic, including the college application process. Dozens of colleges have announced changes to their testing policies for the next application cycle (more than half of US colleges are test-optional for 2020-2021), and over 300 college admissions deans recently endorsed a statement highlighting what they would […]
Georgia Tech Drops The Main Common App Essay, Emory Will Superscore, More Colleges Go Test-Optional
It’s been another busy week in college admissions. Here’s the weekly round-up: There were more test-optional announcements, from large state universities like the University of Texas-Austin to private universities like Emory and Syracuse (Emory will now also superscore the ACT). Check out our list of post-Covid test-optional schools (updated daily). A statement from Syracuse’s Dean of Admissions underscores that test-optional doesn’t mean test-blind: “It’s important […]