Kate Lakatta

More colleges have begun the transition to test optional applications, leaving seniors indecisive about submitting their SAT or ACT scores.

While some students plan to submit their test scores to colleges, others know they will use schools’ test optional statuses to their advantage and leave their SAT scores out of their application. School counseling office department chair John Komosa explains that applying test optional does not equate to a lower chance of acceptance. Schools do not compare an individual who submitted a score to a student who did not. Instead, students who do not submit scores are compared to other students who did not and students who did get compared to others who did. Within an individual’s application, admissions officers are able to grasp the student’s character and work ethic through much more than the test score.

“If they say they are test optional, there is no judgment attached. So, they would just take the materials you submit and they would use that in their determination…Colleges get more information about an applicant from their transcript, grades, and their qualitative pieces than they do just from their test score,” says Komosa. 

According to a survey conducted by Maguire Associates, many people of diverse opinions believe that test-optional is improving the chances of college for low income, underrepresented and first generation students by test-optional making college more achievable for a wider variety of people. 

It is important to recognize submitting test scores could benefit the applicant. Having a high test score could be a huge strength, but the necessity of submitting a low test score is no longer an issue.

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