The long time relevance of ACT and SAT scores in the college admissions process may be declining, as the trend of test-optional and test-flexible schools across the country continues to grow.

Test-optional colleges give an alternative to students who aren’t the strongest test takers or face restrictions when taking standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, said FairTest Public Education Director Bob Schaeffer. Schaeffer said schools quite uniformly find when dropping these requirements and going test-optional that it opens the doors for more students to attend their university.

“It is a win-win for everybody,” he said.

FairTest, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, works to promote fair evaluations of students for college admissions, according to its website. FairTest reports that more than 800 four-year colleges in the United States now do not use the SAT and ACT to admit substantial numbers of applicants, with 16 colleges going test-optional or test-flexible this year.

Schaeffer said that many schools drop their standardized testing requirements after looking at the evidence of student success in test-optional schools, and that the list of schools going test-optional continues to grow. “We know many schools are in the process,” he said.

Syracuse University Admissions declined to comment on whether the university would consider becoming a test-optional school. Wake Forest University is currently the only Atlantic Coast Conference school to offer test-optional admission, according to FairTest. There are currently 16 Bowl Championship Series schools that offer test-optional admission, according to FairTest.

Schaeffer acknowledged there is a trend of the types of schools becoming test-optional.

“For a long time, it has been smaller and more selective schools with some exceptions,” he said.

However, Schaeffer said there are larger private and public institutions like DePaul University, Temple University and Old Dominion University now opting to accept test-optional applications. Schaeffer said it could be beneficial for schools like SU to open doors for kids who didn’t get more chances to attend college.

India Witkin, a freshman television, radio and film major, said she is unsure if SU should become test-optional due to its size, but said there are limitations with using standardized testing in admissions.

“It only measures a small amount of intelligence,” she said.

Witkin said she applied to numerous test-optional schools because she felt they would be less competitive and intense than schools that really stressed standardized testing scores. Witkin said standardized tests often aren’t worth the stress they create for students.

“A test shouldn’t determine the rest of your life so I feel like the schools that are test-optional are understanding that and are seeing that there is less of a value in those tests,” she said.

Kaitlin Pearson, a freshman broadcast and digital journalism major, said she believes SU should consider going test-optional. Pearson said other schools similar to SU, such as Ithaca College, are going test-optional and there are highly ranked schools now making the switch.

Pearson said she personally isn’t the best at taking standardized tests and that it’s good to give more emphasis to how students do in courses, their ability to write essays and their extracurricular activities.

“Academia is more than a test on a Saturday morning and a lot of the time it can come down to that,” she said.

Schaeffer said test-optional schools will continue to grow throughout the country, as there are geographic pockets where it’s becoming popular. Schaeffer said the growth will continue because administrators become more comfortable after viewing data of the success of test-optional schools, as well as the fact that administrators who move to other schools bring their ideas with them.

Published on November 13, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact William: wrnorris@syr.edu