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Last Thursday, the University of California Board of Regents finalized a decision that most of us in the admissions community were confident would happen: that the University system would stop using admissions testing of any kind for the foreseeable future. That means no more SAT, no more ACT, and no replacement test planned. This isn’t a test-optional policy. This is a test-blind policy. The decision was not unexpected, but interesting given that it was originally the University of California system that was instrumental in perpetuating the use of the SAT back in the early 1960s, a decision that led to the test becoming ubiquitous in college admissions. At least until now.
This isn’t a test-optional policy. This is a test-blind policy.
The reaction to the news has been mixed. Longtime critics of standardized testing, whose scoring has been directly correlated to household income, have called it a win for equity in the college admissions process. Proponents of testing bemoan the lack of accountability that such a decision might produce. Holistic college admissions are already subjective in so many ways and now one of the few objective measures, however flawed, is being removed from the process. The Wall Street Journal, in an opinion piece, called it a “bait and switch,” referring to the abandonment of not just the SAT and ACT, but the idea of the UC creating its own test. They called the decision political, a way of avoiding a direct measure of what California’s kids are learning in the public school system as well as a means of blaming falling academic standards on the inequality inherent in standardized tests. The LA Time’s Opinion Page agreed with the WSJ, calling it a mistake, and pointing out that the UC faculty actually proposed that some testing be used if only to confirm what a transcript says.
Thinking about admissions going forward in the country’s largest and most affluent state, parents should expect to see a winner-take-all approach to the high-school GPA. Look no further than Texas to see what this might look like. In Texas, students ranked in the top 6% of their high school class are guaranteed a spot at any state college they want, including the coveted University of Texas at Austin. A similar guarantee exists in California, but students are only guaranteed a spot at one of the UC schools and not one of their choice. You can’t just choose UCLA or Berkeley - you still need to apply, unlike in Texas. The University of Texas system has been applauded for this move because it gives kids from under-resourced school districts the same opportunity to attend UT Austin as kids from well-heeled districts. But the downside of this policy is the relentless rank-chasing that exists at nearly every high school in Texas. Kids looking to secure a spot at UT Austin devote their lives to making it to the top 6% and every other education goal falls away. Want to take a hard class but the formula doesn’t help your rank? You don’t take it. Want to participate in an extracurricular activity after school? You’re better off taking additional classes online, especially if they show up on your transcript and can get you some A’s to add to your GPA. This is likely to be what California will look like soon, with kids competing for tenths of a percentage point in their GPA if only to stand out in a college admissions process whose only objective measure is the transcript.
The Regents’ decision is also another reminder that now more than ever, it’s important to present yourself as more than your academics. You need to build a resume that supports your academic narrative and then artfully tell your story in the application. Don’t assume that grades alone, no matter how outstanding, will get you in the school of your choice anymore. Especially in California.
