Many Colleges Remain Test-Optional for the 2021-22 Admission Cycle

Sarah McMahon

The stress of taking the SATs could be a thing of the past for many students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the college entrance exam testing industry, which resulted in a number of colleges shifting to a test-optional admissions process for the 2020-21 admissions cycle. Last year, 72% of colleges and universities adopted test-optional policies. Due to the continued risk presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these colleges have decided to extend their test-optional policies for the 2021-22 admissions cycles. 

Susan Migiorisi, a college admissions counselor at Boston College, says, “the lack of access to standardized testing test centers was really starting to crop up in the spring and it was getting worse and worse in the Summer, so a lot of institutions decided if they hadn’t been test-optional in the past to move to test-optional”.

Test-optional colleges accept applicants’ test scores but do not require students to submit test scores with their applications. However, most institutions that have adopted test-optional policies will still consider SAT and ACT scores if they are submitted. However, they will place equal value on other factors of a student’s application that demonstrate a student’s potential to succeed in college, such as a student’s essay, recommendations, grades, and coursework. 

Julie Du Pont, Assistant Director of Admissions for the University of Richmond states, “In reality, I don’t really feel like it changed the review process itself very much because the new review of applications is a very holistic review, and I am sorry you are going to hear the word holistic a lot in your college search. But really what it means is that we are looking at every single component of an application because we want to get to know you as both a student and a person before we render a decision for you.”

Mrs. Cahil-O’Shea, a Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School guidance counselor, says “I would say to the student, unless their SAT scores were well above the average that was reported by the schools there is no need to send”. However, this decision can be assisted by school counselors, as Mrs. Cahil-O’Shea states, “We will look at the policy and if the policy says optional we will say… hmm, do you want to put yourself through that when really your grades are sufficient”.

Jason Cloutier, college admission counselor for Xavier University summarizes the situation saying, “the strength of the Hamilton Wenham transcript is going to speak volumes over a singular four-hour exam.”