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Message: [QUOTE="nelsonmuntz, post: 4277666, member: 833"] Most of the top STEM focused schools seem to require it. Carnegie Mellon basically requires it, as does Purdue. Both schools require an essay explaining why a student didn’t provide a test score for any student applying Test Optional. The heavy STEM programs just need kids that are smart enough. There is no bs-ing your way through MIT's or Carnegie Mellon's freshman calculus classes. And if those schools want to take kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, they need to identify and provide remedial assistance out of the gate or they will lose those kids. They need the test. I expect most state schools to ultimately folllow the lead of MIT for STEM majors. A case could be made that writing samples are more important for an English major than a good SAT score, but there is no substitute to a strong test score for an Engineering or Math major. I think Test Optional policies do a few things for the schools, all of which are bad: 1) Convince kids that have no chance to apply to super selective schools "test optional". This serves to drive down acceptance rates at competitive schools and make them seem even more exclusive, which helps them in rankings. 2) drive the average SAT scores up which helps them in the rankings. This has gotten so bad and so obvious that US News is actually adjusting how SAT's impact rankings for schools that have a lot of TO admissions. 3) select more students from privileged backgrounds because the prep and wealthy suburban high schools have bigger grade inflation than middle class and disadvantaged high schools have. There is research on the grade inflation at preps and wealthy suburbs over the last 20 years. 4) enables the schools to hide legacies and rich kids who are screwups because those kids won't hurt the admit stats if they apply TO. I can actually respect test-blind admissions policies like the University of California, even if I disagree with them. Schools are welcome to use any policies they want for admissions as long as those policies are consistent. Test Optional is total bs. Either the test matters or it doesn't. How does making it "optional" make any sense at all? [/QUOTE]

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