Making standardized tests optional?

A new research study has concluded that if the SAT or ACT tests were optional, there would be an increase in racial and socioeconomic diversity at competitive colleges. The findings appear to confirm what SAT critics have said for years: that reliance on the SAT in college admissions favors applicants who are white and/or wealthier than other applicants.


To date, there is only one college, Sarah Lawrence College, who has dropped the standardized test requirement all together. Their admissions website states, " Sarah Lawrence College feels that standardized testing is not effective in evaluating a student's ability to succeed in a writing-based curriculum such as ours."


Click on the link to read the article from Inside Higher Ed.

Want to learn more about test optional colleges? Visit is fairtest.org. They provide a list with over 800 test optional colleges.