The deciders

Beginning on Feb. 22, scores from the Feb. 11 ACT were released— scores that make a dramatic impact on the college admissions process. Many colleges are joining a greater nationwide movement to revise their admissions policies: the “test-optional” movement.

The most local member of the test-optional movement is Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn. Bob Neuman, Senior Associate Director of Admissions, explained Gustavus’ reasoning for joining the movement.

“If you really look at predictive factors over a longer period of time than a four-hour test, the better thing to do is to put the weight on high school grades, your transcript, and rigor of your courses, and put standardized testing second,” Neuman said in a telephone interview. “You’ll always be rewarded for strong test scores, but if students feel their standardized test results don’t reflect their strong grades, then they can opt to not have them considered a part of the admissions process.”

As Ben Herstig, junior, begins his college applications, he takes test-optional policies into much consideration.

“My top school is test-score optional, which is really nice, because I’m going to take the ACT, but I don’t think it should be required to get into college,” Herstig said. “I think colleges should be test-score optional, and should focus more on achievements or the opportunities people have been given in school to prove themselves, rather than a three-hour timed test.”

The test-optional movement originated in 1984 at Bates College in Maine. After a 20-year Bates study published in 2005, the results have led to increasing support for these policies. According to a list published by FairTest, over 925 colleges have imposed “test-optional,” “test-flexible,” or similar policies.

The study found that the difference in GPA of Bates students between those who submitted standardized test scores versus those who did not was .05, and the difference in graduation rate was 0.1 percent.

But as college admissions officers weigh thousands of applications each year, they often find difficulty in measuring students’ abilities within the context of their school. For this reason, Colby deems it vital for colleges to continue including the ACT as a factor.

“ACT scores provide something that other factors cannot: a standardized measure of students’ academic readiness that colleges can use to compare students from different schools and states on a level basis. No other factor can provide that sort of standardized comparison,” Colby said.

Neill asserted that in addition to these results, test-optional policies increase opportunities for applicants with disabilities, from minority backgrounds, or other circumstances to be given consideration.

“The argument that somehow these tests are necessary in the admissions process is simply wrong,” Neill said. “It’s contradicted by the actual evidence.”