MIT Will Resume SAT And ACT Requirement in Admissions but University of California Still Does Not Require Them
MIT announced March 28th 2022 that it will resume use of SAT and ACT scores in its admissions. However, the University of California Board of Directors announced May 21, 2020 that it suspended the requirement for students to take the SAT I and ACT tests for 2022 and 2023, that it will not accept SAT I or ACT scores at all. The University of California Board also announced that it will develop its own testing system by 2024 admissions year, although no confirmation announced how that project progresses. The problem with this policy is that such a change in testing requirements is not across the board, with some universities and colleges taking a wait-and-see approach for when the Covid-19 pandemic will end and we go back to "normal."
For students, however, admissions testing for the SAT I and ACT is still a clear and present issue with no easy way to avoid the challenge. The lack of a universal policy among all or most all universities to suspend SAT I and ACT testing for this year and beyond means that students will be forced to take the tests anyway, in order to apply to a band of universities possible in their admissions profile. One strategy may be to apply to University of California schools without sending SAT I or ACT scores, and then to apply to other universities with such scores sent and shown in the applications. Or, students may select universities to apply to with only those that have confirmed they will not require admissions tests. That latter strategy will require constant checks on those universities to see if their testing policies will or have changed. This ultimately results in more vigilance and work for students, however.
Steven Huh is currently president of Steven Academy in San Francisco. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign as an English Literature major, taught at Daewon Foreign Language High School English expository writing, SAT I writing, SAT I Reading Comprehension, and served as its Director of College Counseling from 1998 to 2002. He also was president of Steven Academy in Seoul, Daechi-dong from 2003 to 2018. He is currently a member of NACAC (National Association of College Admission Counseling) and International ACAC (International Association of College Admission Counseling).
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