Top Ivy Reinstates ACT® and SAT® Requirements for Admission - Will Others Follow Suit?
Breaking News
On February 5th, Dartmouth’s new president, Sian Leah Beilock, announced Dartmouth’s reinstatement of standardized testing requirements for admissions beginning with the high school graduating class of 2025.
Why did Ivy League Dartmouth, one of the world’s most prestigious colleges, reinstate its ACT®/SAT® score requirement?
Last summer, Dartmouth welcomed Sian Leah Beilock as its new president. Beilock, formerly president of Barnard College and a cognitive science professor, initiated social science-backed research to explore the importance of standardized tests in identifying promising students from diverse economic backgrounds. The analysis of admissions data revealed that standardized test scores strongly predict academic success, especially for students from less-resourced backgrounds. While acknowledging societal inequalities reflected in test scores, Dartmouth’s research underscores standardized tests’ significance in admissions decisions alongside other factors like grades and recommendations.
Dartmouth’s research also confirmed a concern shared by many: some applicants unknowingly withheld competitive ACT®/SAT® scores, negatively affecting their admission prospects. Students who forgo sharing their ACT®/SAT® scores with their prospective schools aren’t realizing that many colleges consider standardized testing crucial for clarity in admissions decisions and meeting enrollment goals. College-bound students need to consider all of the benefits of submitting ACT®/SAT® scores and including their ACT®/SAT® scores could very well be what sets them apart from the rest of the college applicant pool.
Will Other Schools Follow In Dartmouth’s Footsteps?
Quite possibly, yes. As we’ve previously noted, it’s not surprising that some colleges and universities that established test-optional, test-flexible, and test-blind policies as a temporary solution during a global crisis have chosen to reverse those policies in favor of utilizing standardized test scores for a better look at a student’s academic capabilities.
As we’ve seen, top colleges like MIT, Georgetown, Purdue, and several more esteemed colleges and universities have maintained or reversed their standardized testing policies to require them as an objective yardstick for admissions to measure a student’s college readiness and academic fit.
There’s even chatter of more top colleges and universities changing course or, at the very least, reassessing testing policies for the 2024-25 application cycle as stated by schools like Princeton and Columbia.
Of course, not every school that made the shift during the pandemic will reverse course on their standardized testing policies. Many schools that made the jump to test-optional, test-flexible, and test-blind policies will stand by that decision, and place more weight on other factors like grades, GPA, extracurricular activities, and personal accolades. While those components are undoubtedly major factors that should be considered for a more holistic consideration of every student, we can’t forget about how muddied education and academic progress became because of the global pandemic. Issues like COVID-19 learning loss and grade inflation are pandemic-related problems that must continue to be accounted for.
Standardized test scores, on the other hand, not only give colleges a better look at a student’s academic abilities, but they circumvent potential issues like grade inflation that may very well make a student look good on paper, but will only hurt the student’s chances of keeping up with the academic rigors of college. Simply put: test scores are a better predictor of success than high school grades alone.
What Does This Policy Reversal Mean for Students?
This admissions policy reversal greatly affects our current sophomores and juniors who need to prepare for potential admissions changes like these, as college admission requirements are subject to change for future admissions cycles. With prestigious schools like Dartmouth not only reestablishing standardized testing requirements for college admissions but also providing well-researched, data-driven evidence of the benefits of accepting ACT®/SAT® scores, more colleges and universities will undoubtedly follow suit.
Because colleges and universities can change their stance on standardized testing policies for admission, it makes the most sense for college-bound students to prepare as if all of their prospective schools have an ACT®/SAT® testing requirement for admissions. This is just smart planning.
Dartmouth College’s recent decision to reinstate ACT®/SAT® score requirements for admissions sends a powerful message and highlights the value of standardized testing in identifying promising students—especially those from diverse economic backgrounds. As other institutions take note, students must prepare strategically, recognizing that their ACT®/SAT® test scores can significantly impact their acceptance into their choice schools.
The best advice you can give your clients is to set their ACT®/SAT® goals high, work hard to achieve those goals, and submit their best possible scores with their applications. Those scores could very well be the difference between “Congratulations! You’ve been accepted!” and a flat-out denial.
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