MIT Reinstates SAT and ACT Score Requirements
Stu Schmill (the head of admissions at MIT) discusses the importance of lifting the test-optional policy!
Regardless of the arguments against SAT and ACT requirements, these exams are necessary for low SES students. They demonstrate college readiness and assess critical thinking skills.
Learn about the benefits of SAT Prep and taking the SAT
MIT Lifts the Test-Optional Policy for Standardized Tests
On March 28th, 2022, MIT announced that it would again require the SAT and ACT tests as part of the college admissions process. This was a landmark decision - the first of its kind since most colleges suspended the SAT/ACT requirement at the beginning of the pandemic. Many folks assumed that most colleges would take this opportunity to permanently move away from the SAT/ACT, as they perceived these tests as barriers to entry for students attending under-resourced schools. However, MIT has found that, without the test scores, they don’t have enough information about a candidate from an under-resourced school to be able to take a chance on them. My 2021 blog, published on the Foundation Center’s website, predicted exactly the phenomenon MIT is now responding to–that the GPAs of low-SES students would not be enough to allow colleges to predict student graduation.
MIT’s head of admissions, Stu Schmill (also an MIT grad!), announced that, “after careful consideration within our office, and with the unanimous support of our student-faculty advisory committee — [we have] decided to reinstate our SAT/ACT requirement for the foreseeable future.” Any decision concerning standardized tests is a noteworthy one, but this move, by one of the top universities in the world, both acknowledges the utility of the test as the OPPOSITE of a barrier to entry and paves the way for other universities (both highly selective and not highly selective) to follow in its footsteps.
As you know, the test-optional policy implemented by most colleges and universities across the United States, including the Ivies, Stanford and a host of other highly selective institutions, was a temporary solution for colleges to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and had a substantial effect on the quality of education and the college admissions process. Since testing centers were hard to find or closed a few weeks before (or even the night before the test), a disproportionate number of urban students were displaced and unable to take their exams; as a result, colleges suspended the need for SAT and ACT scores for applicants. For students applying in 2020 and 2021, this was a relief and took some pressure off an already stressful process.
As universities and other facilities slowly open up, students have been able to take the SAT and the test-optional policy has become less effective. Still, students (specifically students of color and first generation students) opt out of the standardized exams, without knowing the advantages of including their scores. It has been proven that students who submit their SAT scores are 220% more likely to be admitted into college, as opposed to students who did not submit their SAT scores.
Admissions officers from highly selective universities have previously stated that it is difficult to accept students who cannot produce a score of 1000 on the SAT (if they intend on having majors in the humanities or social sciences) or a 1100 if they plan on studying any STEM related fields. Colleges are reluctant to admit students with no standardized test scores because they are unable to predict if high schools in low income communities adequately prepare students for college and the likelihood of these students graduating. The SAT and ACT provide critical information that high school GPAs do not and are not accurate in showing students’ ability to make it through college when grade inflation is not taken into account.
Many educators, SAT prep organizations, and admissions counselors have predicted that SAT and ACT scores would once again be a critical part of the admissions process. My organization, Yleana Leadership Foundation, works on closing the opportunity gap for low income students and stresses the importance of standardized testing, since they are indicators of college readiness and a measure of students’ critical thinking skills.
Despite the research and first hand accounts by admissions officers, many oppose standardized testing and MIT’s decision to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirements for applicants. Concerns were raised about the necessity of the SAT and ACT and the outcome this decision will have on the test-optional policy for other universities across the country.
The impact of MIT’s decision on colleges is widely anticipated, since many colleges still have the test-optional policy in place and have yet to decide if it will be a permanent option for prospective students. Some university systems like the University of California and California State University system have gone as far as removing the test as a requirement for college admissions.
MIT's Decision to Resume SAT and ACT Requirement
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schmill made a statement about the suspension of the SAT and ACT requirements for college admissions. He stated, “This was not a decision we made lightly. Our reliance on these tests is outcome-driven and applicant-oriented: we don’t value scores for their own sake, but only to the extent that they help us make better decisions for our students, which they do. We regularly research the outcomes of MIT students and our own admissions criteria to ensure we make good decisions for the right reasons, and we consistently find that considering performance on the SAT/ACT, particularly the math section, substantially improves the predictive validity of our decisions with respect to subsequent student success at the Institute.”
Schmill’s recent statement to once again use SAT and ACT test scores on a college application comes from research that connects standardized tests to educational success. MIT, like many other colleges and universities, wants students who will not only survive, but thrive in a competitive environment and be resilient. MIT emphasizes this value and demonstrates the importance of using applicants' SAT and ACT scores to determine which students will be most likely to complete four years of their undergraduate program successfully.
The decision to have the SAT reinstated, instead of having a flexible policy, ensures that students applying to MIT are aware of the expectations needed to gain admissions into this institution. This announcement, although it was unexpected, had a motivating and hopeful tone, to encourage students that are interested in applying to MIT. While identifying the benefits of using standardized test scores in his announcement, Schmill acknowledges that standardized test scores are not used to cast judgment on students and do not negatively define students applying to college. These scores are only a portion of what colleges look for in prospective applicants.
“We do not prefer people with perfect scores; indeed, despite what some people infer from our statistics, we do not consider an applicant’s scores at all beyond the point where preparedness has been established as part of a multifactor analysis. Nor are strong scores themselves sufficient: our research shows students also need to do well in high school and have a strong match for MIT, including the resilience to rebound from its challenges, and the initiative to make use of its resources.”
Since MIT is a university with a strong focus on STEM fields, SAT and ACT scores are needed to show the problem solving skills each applicant possesses. However, these test scores are not only used as a tool for college readiness, but they also help colleges identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students who would otherwise be unable to demonstrate readiness “because they do not attend schools that offer advanced coursework, cannot afford expensive enrichment opportunities, cannot expect lengthy letters of recommendation from overburdened teachers, or are otherwise hampered by educational inequalities.”
Opinions on the SAT and how MIT's decision will impact other universities
Before MIT’s decision to resume SAT and ACT score requirements, debates on the relevance of the SAT and the disadvantages it presents for students of color have been discussed numerous times. Arguments against the SAT focus on the barriers it creates that exclude students from gaining admissions, the unfair advantage wealthy students have in terms of their access to test prep programs and the disconnect between standardized test results and college success. However, many educators and college admissions boards disagree with this sentiment which was made apparent with MIT’s recent decision.
In a previous article, I concluded that the elimination of standardized test scores does not “level the playing field,” but has the opposite effect since high SAT scores, particularly from low-income students, can be used as a factor to determine college readiness and assess the critical thinking skills of these students. “Indeed, the less we rely on standardized testing, the more unequal higher education is likely to become. And the most worrisome aspect of that reality is that the change will largely escape the notice of those who don't work with underserved populations.”
Most colleges look to diversify their campus every year by admitting students of differing socioeconomic backgrounds, races and religions. With the elimination of the SAT/ACT, low-income students are greatly disadvantaged, because their underserved schools are considered “particularly not good” or equipped to provide students with the fundamental knowledge needed to make it through college. Without the SAT and ACT scores of low SES students, colleges limit the admission of those students in favor of those who can afford tuition. As a result, colleges may end up accepting students of color from higher-income backgrounds who can pay the tuition in full, and overlook low income students.
“Despite their many failings, standardized tests are among the most powerful levelers in society and, if approached with a clear understanding of their benefits as well as shortcomings, can help us close the all-too-persistent opportunity gap in higher education. The answer is not to throw them away, but to keep them and invest more in preparing students—all students—to excel in the skills they measure.”
MIT’s decisions can reflect the direction that colleges and universities will take when it comes to SAT and ACT scores; however, questions still remain for other universities:
Will test optional be a permanent part of the college applications process?
Will standardized test scores be reinstated as a vital part of the college admissions process or
Will it be eliminated completely?
With MIT’s decision to lift the test-optional mandate, only time will tell if other universities across the country will follow suit and mandate standardized tests or keep the test-optional policy.
