In a sudden removal of its test-optional Covid-era policy, Dartmouth College decided to reinstate a requirement for SAT or ACT scores in applications beginning with the class of 2029, following MIT’s similar 2022 decision.
This decision comes as colleges across the country have participated in the movement to remove the standardized test requirement, with 80% of colleges not requiring scores for 2023 admissions, according to Forbes.
Dartmouth’s decision is reportedly informed by a new research study conducted by Dartmouth presidents and economists, which found that standardized test scores act as an accurate predictor for a student’s success at Dartmouth, with first-year college GPA (as well as career success) and standardized test scores having a strong positive correlation.
The study found that a test-required policy would be helpful to identify high-achieving students in disadvantaged areas or schools, as these students are likely not to submit their scores under a test-optional policy (thinking that their scores, though good for their high school, may not be good enough for the college).
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students were not able to take standardized tests, and many universities responded by removing requirements for the submission of test scores. While these decisions were meant to be temporary, they lasted for much longer than expected.
The initial removal of test score requirements may have been motivated by the pandemic, however, it also reflects the popular sentiment that this testing requirement gives wealthy students an advantage. It makes sense: wealthy students often have access to tutoring and test-prep services that disadvantaged students don’t. Indeed, SAT scores have been shown to be linked to income, according to a 2023 New York Times article.
The removal of the testing requirement for many colleges, such as Harvard, also coincided with several lawsuits which accused admissions officers of not accepting students based on merit, and rather discriminating against Asian Americans in college admissions.
New York Times Opinion Columnist Ross Douthat argues that universities use supposedly “holistic” admissions policies in order to ensure that they will continue to be able to reject Asian American students with high standardized test scores in favor of students from other ethnic backgrounds.
However, new research seems to justify SAT requirements, and popular opinion has also begun to swing in favor of them as well. Douthat argues that standardized testing is a “benchmark of the meritocracy,” citing the rise of Ivy League colleges in the 20th century as being a result of the SAT; Douthat also explains that standardized test scores, in reality, help capable but disadvantaged students to show their talents to colleges and to improve their economic situation.
Surprisingly, the Dartmouth research study found that maintaining a test-optional policy actually would benefit students who “have historically been represented at Dartmouth” because it puts weight on components of the application that they would be advantaged in, such as extracurricular activities.
Indeed, the aspects of college admissions that were at one time thought to be most fair — extracurriculars, essays, even the interviews that often follow an application — may favor privileged students, in Douthat’s view. Furthermore, the study found that, in reality, test-optional policies — contrary to popular belief — do not increase the number of disadvantaged or low-income applicants.
According to The Dartmouth, the school’s student newspaper, Dartmouth students had various responses to this new change, reflecting the nation’s ongoing debate. While some say that the recent decision “makes sense” given the research backing it up, student Sabrina Ferrer told the Dartmouth it’s “unfair” to compare an individual student’s scores with the high school the student attended.
“My school was high-income, and I was low-income,” Ferrer said to the Dartmouth. “I wasn’t going to get the same advantages as they got, like with private tutoring.”
In the Dartmouth, Class of ‘26 student Ryan Newsom pointed out the contradiction in the school’s policy changes.
“[College officials] are claiming that [requiring test scores] will help with diversity,” Newsom said to the Dartmouth. “But they kind of said a similar thing when they got rid of it initially.”
It is possible that Dartmouth’s decision will lead to a wave of change in Ivy League colleges’ standardized test policies. The debate, however, about whether this constitutes triumph for the meritocracy or an elitist injustice, will likely continue.
