Issue Date: 4/28/08
No-test option gives Wisconsin college a different look
By Erica Perez
Elizabeth Byers didn't really worry about having the academic chops to get into college.
She was valedictorian at Reedsburg Area High School and had a nice set of scores: a 4.0 GPA, a 29 on the ACT and a 1,980 on the SAT.
Still, when Lawrence University asked if she wanted her test scores to be considered, she checked the "no" box. And breathed a sigh of relief.
"I was just sort of like, 'Oh! That's nice!'" Byers said. "So many kids are really great students and don't have great test scores. I have good test scores, but if they were going to recognize me for what I did in school, I wanted to take advantage of that."
Lawrence, in Appleton, Wis., is among a growing list of more than 750 colleges and universities that have some kind of test-optional admissions, according to FairTest, a Massachusetts nonprofit that opposes heavy reliance on the tests. The trend comes as standardized tests have faced increased scrutiny for possible bias against students who are the first in their family to go to college, minorities and non-native English speakers.
Advocates of test-optional policies point to studies showing students who don't submit scores have lower average test scores than other admitted students, but get better grades once they enter college.
Critics argue standardized tests are essential tools for admissions officers who have to deal with grade inflation in secondary school GPAs and an increasingly murky definition of high school class rank.
When Lawrence went test-optional in late 2005, about a quarter of its roughly 2,300 applicants chose not to submit scores. About a quarter of admitted students were also non-submitters. A study of students admitted in 2006 showed non-submitters had lower test scores, but ended up with roughly the same GPAs as submitters at the end of their first term.
The school also experienced a 12 percent increase in applications when it went test-optional.
"This ends up being a good option for … the students who are doing very well academically in school but their test scores don't necessarily match up with their academic performance," said Ken Anselment, director of admissions at Lawrence.
She was valedictorian at Reedsburg Area High School and had a nice set of scores: a 4.0 GPA, a 29 on the ACT and a 1,980 on the SAT.
Still, when Lawrence University asked if she wanted her test scores to be considered, she checked the "no" box. And breathed a sigh of relief.
"I was just sort of like, 'Oh! That's nice!'" Byers said. "So many kids are really great students and don't have great test scores. I have good test scores, but if they were going to recognize me for what I did in school, I wanted to take advantage of that."
Lawrence, in Appleton, Wis., is among a growing list of more than 750 colleges and universities that have some kind of test-optional admissions, according to FairTest, a Massachusetts nonprofit that opposes heavy reliance on the tests. The trend comes as standardized tests have faced increased scrutiny for possible bias against students who are the first in their family to go to college, minorities and non-native English speakers.
Advocates of test-optional policies point to studies showing students who don't submit scores have lower average test scores than other admitted students, but get better grades once they enter college.
Critics argue standardized tests are essential tools for admissions officers who have to deal with grade inflation in secondary school GPAs and an increasingly murky definition of high school class rank.
When Lawrence went test-optional in late 2005, about a quarter of its roughly 2,300 applicants chose not to submit scores. About a quarter of admitted students were also non-submitters. A study of students admitted in 2006 showed non-submitters had lower test scores, but ended up with roughly the same GPAs as submitters at the end of their first term.
The school also experienced a 12 percent increase in applications when it went test-optional.
"This ends up being a good option for … the students who are doing very well academically in school but their test scores don't necessarily match up with their academic performance," said Ken Anselment, director of admissions at Lawrence.
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