As US colleges revert to requiring SAT, CMU will remain test optional for now

By Sam Bates

Next year, Carnegie Mellon will begin its fourth admission cycle that does not require students to submit their standardized test scores. The university states on its website that its admissions team is “committed to a holistic approach” in which “no single grade, factor, score or activity guarantees or disqualifies any candidate’s” chances of being accepted. However, Carnegie Mellon still encourages applicants to submit SAT scores.

Created in 1926 by psychologist Carl Brigham, the SAT has been a fixture of the American college admissions process since the mid- 1930s when Ivy League schools began requiring it. In the early 2000s, a major shift began as colleges across the nation began switching towards a test optional system, where applicants could choose whether they wanted to submit their SAT scores for review.

Still, until 2019, 55 percent of colleges required standardized test scores. During the pandemic, test- optional policies surged, and last January only 4 percent of colleges listed on the Common Application required students to submit scores.

Recent policies regarding test scores from major universities such as Dartmouth College and MIT have made some students wonder if the test will return as a central factor in admissions.

Peter Kerwin, Carnegie Mellon media relations director, told The Tartan that the university will “continue to study student performance.” The undergraduate admissions office declined to comment on the university’s test score policy and its review of the test’s efficacy in selecting a diverse student body.

Discussion around the SAT has become more nuanced in terms of race in recent years. On average, white and Asian students score higher on both the English and mathematics sections of the test than Hispanic and Black students. This has largely been criticized as an instance of the SAT benefiting those with more educational and financial opportunities and hindering those without, raising the question of how colleges and universities that require it in their admissions consider this when reviewing scores.

In February, Yale University announced that it will take a different approach towards test-flexibility than its Ivy League peers. Although Yale was previously test optional, it is now switching towards a new form of score requirement. Whereas other colleges may require specifically the SAT, Yale is now mandating students to submit scores from at least one of the following categories: the SAT, ACT, AP or IB programs. If students choose either of the last two, they must“includeresultsfromallsubject exams completed prior to applying.”

This policy could be a middle ground between a test-optional and test-mandatory approach, as it maintains the importance of a standardized test without requiring a specific exam.