US Colleges go Test Blind

Standardised tests in the US are undergoing a shift this pandemic.

From just two colleges that adopted test-blind admissions in 2014 to over 1600 colleges doing the same (becoming either test-blind or test-optional admission policies), the global pandemic has had a direct impact on college admissions in the US. In simple terms what this means is that colleges and universities adopting the test-blind policies would not consider ACT/SAT scores, even if submitted.

While the debate about the fairness of these tests has been going on for a while, the decision to drop them as part of the admission process was taken in 2020 in light of the global pandemic. A large number of colleges in the US decided to extend this policy beyond 2022 admissions, while some are even considering dropping the tests permanently.  This comes as great news for students across the globe, as it makes the admission process a bit easier.

As stated earlier, this policy had been in the works for a while. The ACT/SAT standardised test requirement for admissions in US universities had been under the scanner of various higher education policies and advocacy groups, especially as the universities also used the ACT/SAT scores of students to determine its (college/university) rankings in the US.

With 2020 gripped by the global pandemic, countless tests were cancelled as most testing centres were closed across the globe. Universities at this point started to take into consideration the plight of students who had little or no access to testing opportunities and who would therefore have missed out on college admissions in the US had the ACT/SAT scores been mandatory for admissions.

In the early March of 2020, only 54% of SAT centres were open for testing, while the remaining were closed due to covid-related health and safety measures. Tests were cancelled in Spring, then Summer and even for the Fall. Similar setbacks were reported for the ACT as well.

Opting out of ACT/SAT in admissions also addresses the decade-long concerns that standardised test scores seemed to favour students from better financial backgrounds and made for an unequal playing field for other qualified students who came from not-so affluent backgrounds.

It was hard, for instance, to differentiate the test scores received by students who had little access to test-prep services from those who did have the resources to prep well. With the test-blind admissions policy, students of Hispanic, non-native English speakers, or even low-income groups, and/or students with learning disabilities would have better opportunities to get admissions of their choice.

It was in the late 1800s that elite universities in the US introduced their own exam systems to assess the potential of students, which was later developed into a common test used by leading universities, i.e., The College Entrance Examination Board where students were tested in nine areas that included Mathematics, History, Languages, and Physical Sciences. This, later on, came about to be known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

Later in 1959, the American College Testing Exam (ACT) was first designed for the University of Iowa by professor of education E.F. Lindquist. The test attempted to access students better as compared to the SAT.

ACT and SAT then went on to become the two most commonly used intelligence tests where students were measured on a broad spectrum of abilities (i.e., general reasoning, numerical operations, perceptual speed, verbal comprehension, or mechanical knowledge).

So, yes, Test-blind admission policies in the US colleges/universities have become great news for international students, as much as it is for American students.

Academics, extracurricular activities, and community involvement would be considered for undergraduate admission. This means that students will be assessed holistically, from grades to his/her extracurricular participation, creativity, problem-solving, and self-discipline among others.
To start with, here’s the list of colleges/universities in the US that are going Test-blind in its admission:

Source: The Fair Test 

A record number of Indian student-visa applications for 2021 to the US (for the fall-term 2021) were approved as over 55,000 students and exchange visitors from India are now heading over to the US for higher education, with numbers expected to grow. The US saw a 30% increase in Indian students in 2021.

That said, the majority of the US colleges/universities are going for test-optional admissions, which means that your applications would be considered with or without ACT/SAT scores.

Top US colleges/universities that are now opting for Test-optional include:

1. 1. • Harvard
      • Columbia University
      • Cornell University
      • University of California
      • Stanford
      • Dartmouth College
      • Yale
      • Brown University
      • Tufts
      • Northeastern University
      • Boston University

If you are thinking of studying in the US, what better year to do it than in 2021?

Read more also about Universities in the USA.