Different Kinds of Testing Policies

The college admissions world is no stranger to test-optional or test-blind admissions.  But the current pandemic, which has caused numerous test dates and thousands of test sites to be cancelled over the last seven months, makes taking the SAT or ACT and submitting scores more difficult than usual.  When your senior is finalizing their list and hitting the submit button applications, or as your junior is building their initial college list, it is important to understand these policies before you get too far in to the process.

We most commonly hear about test-optional and test-blind admissions, but there are actually a few other policies if we want to get even more specific.  I’ll be covering five categories: test required, test-flexible, test-conditional, test-optional, and test-blind.

Test Required

Possibly the most straightforward, colleges with a test requirement means just that: they require ACT or SAT standardized test scores in order to be admitted.  While some specific majors or departments require a minimum test score, the college or university itself will not necessarily have a minimum.  However, it’s best for your student to research the median scores to know if they are above, below, or within the middle 50% to determine chance of admissibility.

Test-Flexible

Colleges with a test-flexible policy allow students to submit scores other than ACT or SAT scores to support their application.  This may be from AP tests, IB exams, and even SAT subject tests.  Each college is different, so your student should do their research to understand what scores are accepted.  Colleges who are test-flexible want to see proficiency in testing, but are more amenable to how your student wants to demonstrate this.

Test-Conditional

You may find some colleges have a test-conditional policy, meaning they will waive the test requirement if your student meets certain criteria, such as a minimum GPA or a particular major.  The admissions process basically becomes test-optional for the student who meets this specified criteria.

Test-Optional

Each college will have a varying policy on what test-optional means, so this description will be fairly generalized.  Usually, a test-optional admissions policy at a college means they do not require SAT or ACT scores to be submitted in order to be considered for admission.  Again, I’m generalizing; each student is different, and each situation is different, but here’s where a bit of strategy comes into play!  If your student’s scores are above the median 50% of scores for admitted students, they’ll want to consider submitting.  If they are below the median 50%, consider not sending scores.  Remember that some schools who are going test-optional specifically for COVID are still requiring them for merit scholarships.

Test-Blind

Test-blind colleges do not look at test scores, even if you submit them, even if it’s a perfect score.  This policy is much more rare than some of the other options - there are currently less than 80 colleges that are test-blind - but it is becoming more and more popular each year.  Keep in mind that if you are applying to multiple colleges (which you should!) they probably have different test policies, so you might need test scores anyway.  For your student’s test-blind applications, ensure that they are stellar since they are focusing more on factors such as GPA, essays, and extracurricular activities.

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Especially during this pandemic, ensure your student fully understands the test submission policy for all the colleges they are applying to.  Even divided into these five categories, there are still many different types of “test-optional” and “test-conditional,” for example.  Research, research, research - and don’t encourage your student to test unless they and your family feel safe doing so.  There are options that fit your student’s testing situation.