New recommendations for standardized tests

Since Covid, I haven’t really had any “testing strategy” conversations with clients. So many colleges have been test-optional that test scores just haven’t been a big deal. The pattern for almost all of the students has been the same: they take the SAT when it’s administered at their school, get their scores, and then decide if they’ll submit test scores to the colleges they’re applying to. A few took the SAT a second time, but even those avoided the sorts of long and anxious conversations that I used to have with students: trying to figure out whether to take the SAT, ACT, or both; trying to figure out how many times to take the test and what kind of test prep course to take; trying to figure out what a good score is. For the past few years, the students I work with simply haven’t spent much time trying to figure those things out.

But I think that’s going to change.

While most colleges are still not requiring tests, and some refuse to even look at test scores, a few have decided that they will again require some form of standardized tests. First MIT made a big splash with their announcement, and recently Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown have followed. I could kind of pretend those don’t matter, because very few of my clients apply to any of those specific schools. But this month UT Austin announced that they will also require testing again, and virtually all my clients apply there (I’m in Houston).

So it’s time to re-think testing strategy, and this is what I am now recommending.

The first step is to take a test. Take the SAT, ACT, or both. If they give one or the other at your school during the school day, excellent. If not, then find out where you can take one near you. (Here are the ACT testing dates, and here are the SAT testing dates.) If possible, don’t make decisions based on the PSAT or a practice test—use a real and usable score as your baseline for making all other decisions. Some students like to take both the SAT and ACT, in case they score significantly better on one. That’s understandable, but there’s no real need to do both. Colleges accept both SAT and ACT, and they don’t have a preference. Few students have a drastically different score. Which you take mostly comes to down to geography—some states and regions have normalized the SAT, while others prefer the ACT.

I think taking at least one real test is a good idea for everyone, with one exception: you have no interest in applying to schools that will even look at a score. If you’re only applying to UC schools, which are test blind, then obviously don’t bother. Otherwise, even if you only plan to apply to test-optional schools, take at least one test.

Once you have a score, understand it in context. There’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” score. To get a feeling for your score, consider it in three contexts.

 The simplest is to understand your score in a national context. Your score report will include a percentile. That shows how high you scored compared to everyone else who took that test. If you scored in the 70th percentile, then you scored higher than 70% of the people who took the same test as you. That’s a really large group, from all over the country, so it gives you a pretty good point of comparison.

You can also compare your scores with other students at your high school. Many states—but not all—make this information public. If you live in one of those states (here’s where you can look up Texas high schools), look up the average scores for your high school to see how you fit with your classmates. If you’re not in a state where you can look up the information, ask your school counselor. Colleges using holistic admission will view your scores in the context of your high school, so it makes sense that you would look at it this way too.

You’ll also want to see how your scores compare with the typical scores at colleges you’re considering. You can easily look up any college’s test midrange for the SAT or ACT. The midrange is exactly that: it’s the range of scores within the middle 50% of students. 25% made a higher score than the midrange, 25% made lower. Having a score higher than the midrange doesn’t guarantee acceptance, and a score lower than the midrange doesn’t guarantee denial.

 Another important thing to understand about the colleges you’re considering is whether or not they “superscore” test scores. Superscoring means that they will count your highest score for each individual test section and ignore the lower scores. For example, imagine if you took an SAT and got a 600 on the reading & writing section and a 600 on the math section, for a 1200 total. And then you took it again, and again got a 1200 total, but with 550 on math and 650 on reading & writing. A college that superscores will give you credit for 600 on math and 650 for reading & writing—the same as 1250. A college that doesn’t superscore will make you choose which test scores to submit to them: submit 1200 evenly split, or submit 1200 with a higher section and a lower section.

You should also find out just how important testing is to a college you’re interested in. There are schools like MIT and UT Austin that require SAT or ACT scores. There are schools like Yale and NYU that require testing, but are flexible about which tests and will accept AP or IB exam scores instead of SAT or ACT. There are schools that are test-optional, and you can find out (from their Common Data Set) how many applicants submit scores.

Once you’ve considered all of the factors that make up the context of your scores, then you’ll have a better idea of how to feel about them and what to do next. Remember: it’s a feeling. Test scores are not objectively good or bad, and you can’t figure out what to do as your next step using any simple objective formula.

With your score and context in mind, decide if you want to re-test and if you want to do any formal test prep. I don’t advise retesting without prep, but some students do. There are a number of ways to practice for a test, from free online programs to intense (and expensive) in-person programs or a one-on-one tutor. I don’t’ have any kind of preference except this: if you do test prep, make it count. Learn something other than how to take the test. Make sure you’re learning math and reading skills, not just learning test-taking tricks. Otherwise it’s a complete waste. I don’t think there’s a very good reason for taking the test more than twice. It’s just not worth the time and effort.

For test-optional schools, decide if you will or will not submit scores. Keep your complete context in mind, and not just the college’s range. The main factor in deciding to send scores should be you. Are the scores aligned with your other information? Are you proud of them? Are you being realistic about them? If so, send them. Don’t let the time and preparation you put into the test go to waste—because those test scores are definitely useless once you’re out of high school.

Also ask what the school’s attitude is about being test-optional. Were they test-optional even before Covid? Or have they announced that they plan to stay test-optional for a long time? Then they obviously don’t think scores are super-important, and you should feel more comfortable not submitting scores for whatever reason. If you get the sense that they are begrudgingly test-optional, then you may consider sending scores if you have them. They’re signaling that they really prefer test scores and may be less hesitant accepting someone with scores than without. I’ve seen college admissions web pages that make it very clear they’re happy to be test-optional…and I’ve seen some where you really have to search for the phrase “not required.”

You should also feel more comfortable not sending SAT/ACT scores if you have other scores to report, like AP exams or an IB exam. Especially if those other measures accurately reflect your best efforts and the SAT or ACT doesn’t, feel more confident keeping your ACT/SAT to yourself and relying on those other tests to let colleges know who you are.

 Let me end with three things to remember.

 1. Your test score is just one piece of information. Some colleges think it’s really important, some think it’s interesting, and some think it’s worthless. But it’s never all of your application.

 2. Never skip applying to a school just because of your scores. Don’t decide for yourself that “you’ll never get in.” I can’t guarantee that you will—nobody can. But if you think a college may be a good fit for you and you’d like to apply, go for it. Let them tell you they’re not going to accept you, don’t decide for yourself. On the other hand, make sure you apply to at least a few schools where your scores are definitely in or above their midrange.

3. Of all the things you can do to have a stronger application, your test score has the least longevity. It’s worthless after you graduate, especially if your test prep was nothing but test-taking tricks.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   The glossary: test optional

   Should you submit your test scores to a test-optional college?

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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Juniors, should you take the next SAT or ACT?

There’s an ACT test coming up on February 6, and the regular registration deadline is tomorrow, January 15. There’s an SAT on March 13th, with a registration deadline February 12th. Should current juniors consider taking either of these tests?

Nope.

The main reason I'm not recommending anyone take the ACT in February or SAT in March is simply the Covid situation. With the numbers as high as they are, I just don't feel comfortable encouraging anyone to go into a group setting in the near future. Last fall there was a lot of chaos surrounding test administration, with many test sites closing at the last minute, so I don't have full confidence that registering for the spring exams will even get you into the spring exams. I would look ahead to the June or August exams instead of spring. That will still give you plenty of time to re-take if you want.

Another reason to put off testing is the number of universities that are test optional. A growing number of colleges were already test optional. And then last year a whole lot more went test optional, some for one year and some for multiple years. But the ones that only gave a one-year break are likely to do it again (at least one already has), because the pandemic is even worse right now than it was last June. By the time you are applying this fall, It may be that the majority—or even all—of the schools you’re considering won’t even be requiring test scores. So risking an unhealthy situation for an unnecessary test just doesn’t seem like a great idea.

Let’s also look at reasons why you might want to take the test soon:

You want to take the test once, early, to get it out of the way and focus on other things in the summer and fall. I love the thinking behind this. I don’t, however, think it’s all that likely to happen. In my experience, almost nobody is ever happy with their test scores. Even if you take the test and get what you think is a good score, there will still be some tempting reason to take it again and aim for a higher score. Your scores will be just under the mid-range of a school, and you want to get them up just a little bit more. Your scores will be just under the top 25% of a school, and you want to get them up just a little bit more. Your score will have a 9 in it—either a 29 composite for the ACT or a combined SAT score that ends with 90—and you want to get it up just a little bit more. That just a little bit more is going to be hard to resist, and so the “once and early” strategy often fails. But if you think you will actually do it this way, go for it…in June. Not right now.

You want to get a baseline score to help you plan for test prep and retakes. Again, this is completely rational and practical. You probably have an idea of where you want your test scores to be, so now you need to know where you are. I get that. But again, you can put off your first exam until June and still be able to execute that plan. You can also take practice tests to get a good idea of your starting point, and they are free and can be done from the safety of your own home.

You want to take the exam as often as possible for superscoring purposes. This is something I hear less often. Most the people I’ve worked with who took the exam a bunch of times thought they’d take the test once, maybe twice. Then they just ended up taking it three or more times because they kept chasing that just a little bit more. Some students, though, absolutely do decide early on that they’ll take the exam four or five time to get the highest possible score. While I don’t endorse this approach, I do understand it. And again, if this is your plan you can take the SAT five times between June and December. Give it time.

But there’s another way to think about testing, an approach I do endorse: don’t take them at all. Not this spring, not this summer, not this fall. Decide right now that you’re only going to apply to test-optional or test-blind schools. There are lots of reasons to dislike the tests, and Fairtest is good at explaining them. Here’s the thing that I always come back to, though: every other part of your college application has value far beyond college applications. Doing well in your high school classes, being involved in your community, strengthening your writing skills, practicing interviews, taking action to pursue your interests—all these are valuable on their own. But a college-entrance exam has no value once you enter college. It’s extremely limited in usefulness. So I encourage you to skip that part. It’s not worth it.

Does that mean you’re eliminating choices based solely on their testing policy? Yes. But there are thousands of colleges and universities. You’ll only apply to maybe a dozen, and only attend one. Elimination is what the process is all about. But isn’t testing policy a pretty arbitrary reason to eliminate choices? Yes. But so are other reasons. You want to stay within 100 miles of home? Arbitrary. You want to avoid places that are hot, or avoid places that are cold? Arbitrary. You want to go to a college with a “good reputation?” Arbitrary. It’s fine to use an arbitrary reason to pass on a college. But could you be letting go of a college that would otherwise be a really great fit? Absolutely. But remember that wherever you go to college, you will also be letting go of colleges that are also a really good fit.

If you’re not ready to make that leap, I understand. There may be a college you really have your heart set on, and they require you to take the SAT or ACT. That’s fine, I’m not judging you. But I still believe it’s time we all—students, parents, counselors, consultants, teachers, all of us—start thinking of the SAT and/or ACT as a special opt-in circumstance, not the default that only a certain subset of students opt out of. You can go to a really great college and have a really great career and a good life without ever taking one of those exams. Think about how nice that can be.

Be safe. Be careful.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts: Should you submit your test scores to a test-optional college? and It seriously looks like SAT/ACT testing is going away.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It’s not trying to sell you anything. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

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