We will need another hour-long webinar to even come close to covering all the developments in the world of testing and admissions. The impact of the Covid pandemic is ongoing and indeed will be echoing around the halls of learning for years to come. American Universities stopped requiring tests students couldn't take, and there was an ensuing flight to perceived quality among applicants. The direct result was a well-reported and alarming reduction in the acceptance rate of the most competitive schools as students no longer saw a (relatively) middling test score as a barrier to entry.
The universities opened their application doors up widely and have been enjoying an unprecedented surge in interest, applications, and application fees. What they haven't done is expanded any of the entering class size to any real degree with giants such the University of California system actually reducing the seats available to out-of-state applicants. The net result at UC is that only 2,442 international students were accepted for 2023, down 12.2% from last year. (What isn't reported is how many of these international admits were olympic or professional-caliber athletes...)
The net result is that universities that used to be very completive, are now absurdly competitive, and those that used to be a bit competitive, are now very competitive. Past historical data from your high school on admissions into universities X, Y, and Z are now no longer nearly as indicative as it used to be and students will need to look at the last couple admissions cycles instead. In many cases, a school that would have been a bit of a "reach" for a student in 2018 is now out of reach - even if GPA/IB results are outstanding and SAT scores are tip-top. For those of graduating in 2023, the key is to adjust your expectations and take to mind that the most competitive schools often aren't the best choice for your future.
Nearly all American schools are now some form of "Test Optional", and this will continue to be the new normal. Students will need to consider how their results on the SAT/ACT compare to the most recent data from the university on accepted students - check the Common Data Set rather than the university - just google "Common Data Set XXX" to get data on XXX University. Please also note that the last couple years of data will have inflated test scores from accepted students as only the students who scored high will submit their scores. Though data is still spotty, students who submit scores generally have a better chance of acceptance - though these same students are those that tend to be stronger academically, something the tests profess to measure.
Oh, we almost forgot to remind readers that the SAT is changing format in 2023 to a new digital format. That will present an entirely new array of variables and challenges to an already-Byzantine process. We'll circle back on this in subsequent editions of this newsletter...
News on Recent SAT Malfeasance
Our article on recent cheating on the SAT has been published in the May 2016 edition of the Singapore American Newsletter.
From the Latest Study in America Newsletter: The Redesigned SAT
There has been no shortage of ink spilled about the new SAT, or the rSAT (“revised SAT” in College Board parlance). For the last month or so we’ve been picking over the 4 full-length mock rSAT tests released by the College Board to get a feel for the new format. Concurrently, our development team at Testtakers USA has been hard at work for some time on new materials and we’ll be more prepared than anyone else when the rSAT is first administered in May 2016.
“...We’d recommend most students graduating in 2016 or 2017 take the current SAT on or before December 2015 – leaving the January 2016 test date in reserve.”
On first blush, the test does seem “harder”. Math is a bit more advanced with no calculator allowed in one of the sections. Arcane vocab is gone with a focus instead of more understanding of common words used in context and “evidence-based reading” – meaning answering inferential questions on the meaning of passages. The grammar portion shifts to a format that we shall call “inspired by the ACT English Section” with the MCQ questions in the context of longer passages rather than stand-alone sentences. The guessing penalty is eliminated and the number of multiple choices is reduced to four from five. Two changes that mirror the ACT rather closely… We’ve found that as a result of fewer choices on the reading it doesn’t really make it easier as there aren’t as many irrelevant answer choices such as we see on the present test. The essay is much more challenging, bordering on literary criticism, and longer at 50 minutes. Though the essay will not be required, most universities will want to see it. There will be some “science” questions but similar to the ACT, they really just test your ability to understand a chart or graph.
For many students the new format will be a bit daunting at first, especially those who have been silly enough to do SAT prep for years based on the old format. However, let’s remember that the test is meant to be used by universities as a predictor of academic success so if all of a sudden every kid did “worse” on the rSAT then the test wouldn’t be doing its job very well. While the rSAT may look harder, if it is to satisfy its claim of being an useful test then the scoring range or curve has to match what we have with the old test. Kids who do well in school and would do well on the current SAT will do just fine on the rSAT (or the ACT for that matter). Students who struggle with MCQ tests will do poorly; middling students will perform…middlingly. Rafa Nadal is strongest on clay courts, but he is no slouch on grass or hard court. Similarly, students who do well on one (SAT, rSAT, or the ACT) will do well on all and taking all three represents a waste of time and money.
So, the million dollar question is which one to take. Given that the rSAT is still a bit of a unknown and you get better gains preparing for the SAT over the ACT, we’d recommend most students graduating in 2016 or 2017 take the current SAT on or before December 2015 – leaving the January 2016 test date in reserve. If you don’t do great the rSAT will be there for you as well as the ACT if needed.
