9 October 2009 archive

Recently we wrote about the confusion with the College Board’s policy on how to report SAT scores. Before that there was (and continues to be) confusion as to what strategy is best when applying to colleges. But now, the addled college applicant can encounter a maze of ever changing invididual college policies that can add to the mystery of college applications.

If after reading this report you have questions, do not hesitate to call or email. We have a special covert de-mystification method that will you enable you to see and think clearly.

SAT Test Optional or Not…the Debate Goes On

A year ago, the big news at the annual meeting of the National Association for College Admission Counseling was the release of a landmark report questioning the use of standardized testing. While the report did not call for testing to be abolished, it said that most colleges that required testing in the admissions process did not have a sufficient sense of its value, and the study suggested that careful analysis would lead many of those institutions to stop requiring the SAT or ACT as part of the admissions process.

In the year since the report was released, there has been a steady stream (but not a wave) of movement away from testing requirements. Just in the week before the meeting, Sacred Heart University, the State University of New York at Potsdam and Washington and Jefferson College dropped SAT requirements. In the last year, new forms of going test-optional have also appeared. Some colleges — such as American University and the State University of New York at Geneseo — have gone test-optional for early decision applicants. Other institutions, such as New York University and Bryn Mawr College, moved in the last year to allow the use of SAT II (subject tests) or Advanced Placement tests instead of the SAT. Read more »