As the standardized testing landscape continues to shift, and the majority of colleges and universities have announced continued policy changes, our team is here to help you understand the latest testing policy news. For some background information about test-optional review and what that means, check out our previous post. For an up-to-date list of test-optional schools at this time, check out our list here. Here, we will address the latest news and answer some key questions about the testing landscape.
I’ve heard some schools are “test-blind” or “test-free.” What do these mean and is there a difference?
There is no difference between the terms, though “test-free” is considered to be more inclusive. For the purposes of this blog, we’ll use the term “test-free” to represent both.
Indeed, some colleges have opted to go test free. Test free is different from test optional. Under a test-optional policy, colleges still welcome test scores from students who choose to submit them and consider them a valuable data point and part of the review process if testing is available. At the same time, they are confident in reviewing a file without a test score and still rendering a fair decision—in other words, students without scores are not disadvantaged.
In contrast, if a school is test free, it means they will not consider standardized testing in their application review. Even if you have a 36 on the ACT, or a 1600 on the SAT, and you send it to them, they will not consider it as a part of your file.
Test-free policies are far more rare than test-optional. Notable schools with test-free policies include the University of California system, the California State University system, Catholic University, and Reed College.
If you have specific questions about how to navigate test-optional or test-blind admissions, our admissions coaches can help. Contact us to learn more today.
