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Syracuse University adopted a test-optional admission policy through the 2022-23 academic year, a university spokesperson confirmed.  SU did not specify whether they’ll continue this test-optional policy after this date.

The policy has been in place at SU for a year since the start of the pandemic. Members of the Class of 2025 had to navigate a college admissions process where test-optional policies were the standard. Now, with many colleges carrying over their 2020-21 admissions policies, high school seniors will also experience the redesigned admissions process. 

Test-optional policies are designed to make the college admission process more fair, as some students are not able to complete the exam as a result of the pandemic and related protocols, such as social distancing. 

Students who are unable to take a standardized test or choose to not submit their score will not be at a disadvantage during the admissions process, according to an SU news release. Also, students who chose to not submit their score are still considered for merit scholarships.   

“Standardized test scores have always been just one component of our holistic review process,” Maurice A. Harris, the dean of admissions, said in the release. “Now, we will place greater emphasis on other application credentials, including academic performance, the rigor of coursework and extracurricular engagement.” 

When applying to colleges last fall, SU freshman Alex Jenkin said she realized that all the schools she was applying to were test optional. She received little guidance from her high school on when she should submit test scores. She was confident in her score, so in the end she sent it to all the schools she was applying to except her “reach school.”  

“My score was right around the average for Syracuse,” Jenkin said. “I thought it would help me rather than hurt me … I wasn’t really stressed about that in particular.”

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Right now high school seniors who are beginning to apply to colleges are debating whether or not to submit their score. Claire Moore, a high school senior from Darien, Connecticut, will not be submitting her score to all the schools she applies to.

“I took the ACT three times in the spring and summer of my junior year,” Moore said. “After strategizing with my college guidance counselor and teacher, I have decided to only submit my scores to select schools (where) they would be competitive.”  

Moore supports the test-optional policy and believes that it creates a more fair system, and she said that wealthier students have the opportunity to receive tutoring for the exams and take it multiple times, an advantage not all students have. She does not believe her GPA and standardized test scores are comparable. 

“I appreciate the test-optional policies because … (it places) less of an emphasis on standardized testing and a greater one on holistic review,” Moore said. “(The) SAT and ACT should not be weighed equally to the years of hard work that went into GPAs and extracurriculars.”

Emily Eckerson, a high school senior from Rye, New York, is afraid of the potential repercussions of not submitting standardized test scores. 

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MORE COVERAGE:

• SU waives SAT, ACT scores for 2021-22 application cycle
• Admissions experts say standardized tests are unfair, a financial burden
• Syracuse University waives SAT, ACT score for fall 2021 applicants

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“For some of the schools, if I wasn’t on the high end of the ACT range … I was debating whether or not to send (my score),” Eckerson said. “I didn’t want them to think I was below it, so I kind of decided just to submit everywhere.”

Eckerson has been worried that schools with test-optional admissions do not look favorably on students who chose not to submit their scores. 

“Some of the college tours I went on described that (not submitting scores) would look bad,” Eckerson said. “My college counselor told me that some schools say you can be test optional, but they look badly upon it, so I … just decided to submit them.”

Many universities across the country are moving into the direction of test optional college admission. According to The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, at least 55% of colleges in the U.S. will not require the SAT and ACT through the fall 2022 application season.    

“In the future, I hope to see more schools adopt test-blind policies, meaning they do not accept any form of the SAT or ACT,” Moore said. “Companies that administer standardized testing … profit (off) of stressed students and make higher education less accessible.”

Published on October 10, 2021 at 11:32 pm

Contact Shantel: sguzma01@syr.edu | @shantelguzman2