The key quote:
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Our yield, the percentage of students who accepted our invitation to enroll, rose in a single year from 18% to 26%, an amazing turnaround.
• The quantity of applications went down, but the quality went up, likely because we made it harder to apply, asking for more essays. Our applicants collectively were more motivated, mature, disciplined and consistent in their high school years than past applicants.
• Class diversity increased to 31% students of color, the most diverse in our history, up from 21% two years ago.
• The percentage of students who are the first-generation from their family to attend college rose from 10% to 18% in this year’s class.
Our “No SAT/ACT policy” has also changed us in ways deeper than data and demographics: Not once did we sit in an Admissions committee meeting and “wish we had a test score.” Without the scores, every other detail of the student’s application became more vivid. Their academic record over four years, letters of recommendation, essays, in-person interviews, and the optional creative supplements gave us a more complete portrait than we had seen before. Applicants gave more attention to their applications, including the optional components, putting us in a much better position to predict their likelihood of success here.
I’ve literally never seen any proof that standardized testing is useful for assessing students or for institutions finding quality candidates.
Personally, I just think they exist because the industry is worth billions of dollars. Not to mention how much the test prep industry is worth.
AND these tests maintain classism and racism (which was actually their original purpose–to make sure Jewish kids couldn’t get into colleges).
Now these tests severely marginalize low income 1st gen students and Black Americans and Latinos.
What one college discovered when it stopped accepting SAT/ACT scores
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