As you may know, many colleges and universities have announced that ACT/SAT scores will be optional for the class of 2021. The University of California suspended its testing requirements earlier this month, and since then, more schools have joined the growing movement.

But until April 22nd, no Ivy League institution had made such a move—until Cornell University suspended its ACT/SAT requirements for next year’s admissions cycle. Before we unpack the Cornell decision, we would like to articulate our point of view on test optionality.

We have fielded hundreds of phone calls from concerned parents regarding college entrance exam testing, and we have had hundreds of other conversations with college counselors, retired admissions officers, and clients who sit on various college and university Boards of Trustees. We continue to monitor the testing and college landscape closely and in an effort to clear up many misconceptions, we offer the following advice: ACT/SAT testing is more important than ever!

This may seem contrarian, and it seems to contradict the prima facie news headlines, so here are three reasons why ACT/SAT testing is more important than ever for the class of 2021.

1) For the class of 2021, College admissions personnel will have access to less data while dealing with more ambiguity than ever before. Many schools have not only temporarily suspended testing requirements but also indicated that they will not look at grades from the second half of a student’s junior year. And with extracurriculars and sports on-hold and most juniors’ summer programs/internships/camps suspended, college resumes look nothing like what they would otherwise. So, admissions departments will put even more emphasis on a strong ACT/SAT score. Simply put, a strong test score will be a huge differentiator.

2) Merit and sports scholarships still rely heavily on ACT/SAT test scores, and it does not appear that this will change for the class of 2021. In fact, anecdotally, one of our students who will be attending Cornell University in the fall of 2021 and playing on the women’s lacrosse team just received an email from the Cornell coaching staff requesting that every single incoming recruit retake the ACT or SAT over the summer to improve the team’s average. Ironically, this communication came immediately after Cornell University relaxed its testing requirements. Furthermore, the NCAA hasn’t changed its policy on ACT/SAT testing, and it doesn’t appear likely to do so. And, let’s not fail to remember merit scholarships. Many families forget that the value proposition of investing resources in test preparation is extremely high with many students receiving multiples of that investment later in the form of merit scholarships, oftentimes thousands of dollars per school year. Again, all this money is largely based on test scores.

3) If there were ever a year for a well-prepared student to have a higher likelihood of gaining acceptance into his or her “reach” or “dream” school, this will likely be the year. We anticipate that enrollment numbers will be down in aggregate with more students unsure of the value proposition, especially if college campuses do not open in the fall, and more students opting to take a gap year. Students who, despite test-optional policies, have put in the hard work and have strong ACT/SAT, Subject Test, and AP test scores will increasingly stand out from a pool of applicants that took the easier path.

We are living through an interesting time, to say the least, and the severe ramifications of COVID-19 on the educational system are—and will be—myriad. If you have questions about the changing college admissions landscape or how to maximize your student’s potential, please contact our team at (720) 605-6622 or via email at info@mosereducational.com.