To Test or Not to Test
A new study published by Johns Hopkins researchers challenges whether admissions officers should maintain tests (and test scores) a prerequisite to applying for school. The study, Measuring Success: Testing, Grades, and the Future of College Admissions, “investigates the research and policy implications of test-optional practices, considering both sides of the debate.”
Inside Higher Ed provided a great summary of the key findings, which include the following:
The years following adoption of a test-optional policy saw increases in the total number of applications — by an average of 29% at private institutions and 11% at public institutions.
While the degrees varied, institutions that went test optional saw gains in the numbers of black and Latino students applying and being admitted to their institutions.
About one-fourth of all applicants to the test-optional colleges opted not to submit scores. (The colleges studied all consider the SAT or ACT scores of those who submit them.)
Underrepresented minority students were more likely than others to decide not to submit. Among black students, 35 percent opted not to submit. But the figure was only 18 percent for white students. (Women were more likely than men to decide not to submit scores.)
“Non-submitters” (as the report termed those who didn’t submit scores) were slightly less likely to be admitted to the colleges to which they applied, but their yield (the rates at which accepted applicants enroll) was higher.
First-year grades were slightly lower for those who chose not to submit, but they ended up highly successful, graduating at equivalent rates or — at some institutions — slightly higher rates than did those who submitted test scores.
The study aimed to review undergraduate admissions, but can graduate admission teams use this data to inform new strategies to increase graduate enrollment. We’ve seen schools move to remove GMAT and LSAT testing for admissions, but it will be interesting to see how/if these changes affect the make-up and achievement of new student populations.