SAT is modified and moves online

USD continues its test blind admissions policy 

KARISA KAMPBELL / NEWS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

Anxiously filling out scantron bubbles on a test that could  determine the destiny of one’s future college is now a memory of the past. The SAT has been moved to an online format starting in 2024. 

NPR has reported that the previously three hour long test will now be shorter, both with fewer questions and shorter reading prompts, and calculators will also be allowed. These modifications to the test will be implemented in 2024.

This change follows student and college requests as the SAT continues to lose its prevalence in college admission decisions. According to the National Center of Fair and Open testing, over 1,800 universities have already made the decision to make standardized tests such as the SAT optional. USD is part of this statistic, having recently made the decision to not require testing for admission consideration in both Fall 2021 and Fall 2022. 

Stephen Pultz, Assistant Vice President of Enrollment, explained the university’s decision to be a test optional institution. 

“For years, there has been a growing body of evidence that standardized test scores favor students with more resources than those with less,” Pultz said. “From the disparity in educational opportunity across different high schools, to the correlation between test score and family income, it was becoming clear that the tests were not helping us (or other colleges) promote access or create a more equitable admissions process.”

Because of this evidence, USD decided to make a proactive decision for the fall 2021 admissions cycle. 

“The committee looked at historical data, information from the testing agencies themselves, and spoke with other schools that had already made the decision. In March of 2020, the committee recommended that USD move to a test optional admission policy,” Pultz said.

This new decision would be pushed even further due to the pandemic; however, for the 2021 admission cycle, USD made the decision to completely avoid standardized altogether. 

“Testing centers were closed all around the world and so USD decided that for the 2021 admission cycle, we would not look at scores at all,” Pultz expressed. “We did not want to place the added stress of trying to sit for the exam on top of the incredible disruption  they were experiencing.”

From this decision, the admissions department saw some surprising and promising results that making the SAT optional is, in fact, beneficial to diversity and inclusion. 

“The results were very positive,” Pultz shared. “First, we experienced a 20 percent increase in applications from students who identified as Black and Hispanic. The average GPA of the entering class was unchanged from the year before, and we enrolled the most racially and ethnically diverse class in our history. As a result, we made the decision to continue our test blind policy for this admissions cycle and will continue to gather data related to student success before making a long term decision.”

Many students respect this decision and are happy for the younger generations that the significance  of the SAT is dwindling. 

USD junior Justin Aroesty expressed what he thinks about the SAT, and USD’s decision to be testblind for this admissions cycle. 

“Good decision, I think it’s progress. Standardized testing doesn’t show all the context about the student,” Aroesty shared. “It’s one dimensional. It’s not a very accurate way to pick how valuable a student can be at their campus.”

Similarly, USD first-year student Gabe Wilson who was admitted under USD’s new test-blind pretense, agrees that this is overall beneficial. 

“I think it’s great. I don’t think one test can be used to measure if someone can get into a school or not,” Wilson said. “At the end of the day, most of the test is knowing how to take the test. The weight of what it holds is what makes it even harder, and therefore harder to do well on it.”

With major decisions being made about the future of the SAT comes rising questions about the future of grad school testing requirements. The LSAT and MCAT are critical tests that require intensive studying and deep understanding of the testing material.

Many highly regarded law schools, such as Harvard and Columbia, are now accepting the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations) instead. While some change is occurring in the realm of graduate school testing requirements for admissions consideration, it appears that drastic changes, like the changes to the SAT and undergraduate admissions processes, are farther away.

USD’s decision to continue test-blind for this admissions cycle supports the beliefs held by many students in the USD community and USD values as a whole: the SAT is not a fair indicator of student success, especially for students of color. 

While USD’s  decision  to remain test blind for this admissions cycle and the SAT moving to an online format are mutually exclusive decisions, the SAT is quickly becoming an admissions requirement of the past.