We’re already midway through the craziness of 2020’s Fall semester. Some of you are back to school in person, some of you are 100% virtual, and some of you are making the best of a hybrid educational model until we can get to the other side of this pandemic. If you’re a Senior (class of 2021), you’ve already submitted your Early Decision and Early Action college applications, and are hopefully well on your way to finishing up your Regular Decision applications.
But what about the way Covid-19 is affecting standardized testing and college admissions for the class of 2022?
There’s an even more direct way that some of the families I work with have been putting it, and it’s this:
Is the SAT or ACT required for the class of 2022?
If you’re a current Junior (class of 2022)—and you see that your classmates ahead of you mostly got away with throwing out their SAT and ACT test prep books—and you’re experiencing a world that is very much NOT “back to normal,” you may be wondering if you, too, can just ditch this high school rite of passage. I mean, THEY did it, right?
And hey, even before Coronavirus upended all our lives, weren’t there more and more schools who were starting to accept applications even without standardized test scores? I mean, the trends tend to be that year after year, fewer schools require the SAT or ACT essay, and hardly any schools require SAT II Subject Tests anymore. Aren’t tests just kind of…going away? (I can FEEL you double crossing your fingers right now, and it feels painful!)
Here’s the thing: as of this writing, YES, there appear to be approximately 1665 accredited higher educational institutions (according to fairtest.org) in the United States that are test optional…or at least they are for your Senior friends. However, ALSO as of this writing, over 460+ of them were merely being lenient to the class of 2021 because of COVID-19 shutdowns last year.
What does this mean for YOU, a Junior who ALSO endured severe disruptions to your education and ability to possibly test? It means that unless these colleges change their minds, these 460+ institutions still expect YOU to submit a test score when you apply.
Not to mention, there are hundreds and hundreds of colleges who did NOT become test optional or test blind, not even during the pandemic, and not even for the class of 2021. So these, too, will expect you to take the SAT or ACT and submit a score.
Unless ALL the colleges you’re thinking about are Test Optional or Test Blind…AND you have a killer application that doesn’t even need a test score to validate it, AND you don’t care about financial aid or scholarships, then maybe you can consider skipping. However, for most students, that’s simply not the case—and if you’re part of that majority, you need to plan for the likelihood that you will need to submit standardized test scores as part of your college application packages.
What if there are more Covid-19 lockdowns and more SAT and ACT test dates get canceled? What would THAT mean for the class of 2022?
I’m so glad you asked! Here’s the rub: I can’t tell you, because I can’t predict the future. I sure hope things are on the mend from our current virus surge onward (what a scary time to be a human!). That said, as a Junior, if you looked at my Testing Timelines, you already know that you’re not really slated to take your first test until December at the earliest, but more likely, February/March. AND, you have several more test dates after that, were one of yours to be cancelled.
Basically, since the College Board and ACT have figured out how to administer their tests in socially-distant and safe ways, you don’t really have the excuse your older high school friends did. Yes, this might mean that there aren’t as many spots in a testing center as there used to be pre-coronavirus, and that spots might fill up, or even that a testing center may have to unexpectedly close on a moment’s notice.
But if you plan ahead, then this becomes a moot point. You’ll be the person who DID nab the seat and who has multiple backup test dates if one of yours gets cancelled, because you’re starting the process on time instead of waiting until the last minute and cramming.
I’m going to make a bold statement now, but I’m going to do it because I see many of you (Juniors AND their parents) in a mental holding pattern, and I do want you to ultimately get what you want, which is admittance into your dream school. So, here it goes:
If you spent HALF as much time on actually prepping for the SAT or ACT—you know, reviewing Math and Grammar and learning Reading and Science section strategies—as you’re doing on hypothetical panic about IF you need to even take the test in the first place and on various “what if” scenarios…you’d nail your target score.
You wouldn’t have to worry about if your college list—you know, the one you won’t finalize until a YEAR FROM NOW—requires test scores or not…because you’d already have a score you’d want to send them, “Test Optional” or not!
You wouldn’t have to play mental gymnastics over “if” you can get a seat at a testing center and how that links to “when” you should start studying…because you’d already be committed to the process. You’d already be starting to study, because even if ONE test date got cancelled, you know you’d STILL need to learn the info for the next possible test sitting.
And frankly, all the anxiety and mental energy you’re spending on the “how” and the “why” and the logistics would GO AWAY…because you will have made a decision.
And if this “decision” means you ultimately end up doing more work (prepping and taking a test that, A YEAR FROM NOW, you realize you didn’t need to take), well…frankly, so what? When did learning reading comprehension, proper grammar and editing skills, basic math, and data interpretation skills ever hurt anyone? NEVER, that’s when. And as test-prep and college admissions experts will tell you, having the option to send a great score to colleges is never going to do anything but help your application—yes, even at “test-optional” schools.
So my best advice to YOU as you navigate standardized testing during the pandemic, class of 2022, is this: stop over-analyzing.
Stop trying to predict the future. Stop trying to game out every possible scenario. Stop hoping that somehow it will work out that you don’t need to study for the SAT or ACT. (And definitely don’t pick your colleges based on whether they’re currently test-optional instead of whether they’re the best fit for you!) Most of all: stop waiting and worrying instead of taking action to get moving towards the school of your dreams.
Pick your test, pick your Testing Timeline, and funnel all that anxious energy into doing something that will actually get you into college—getting a stellar SAT or ACT score!
