ACT scores are the lowest they’ve been in decades. Will admissions ease up?

[CatManTrue]

While this is unfortunate for standardized tests - and sadly likely due to school shutdowns during the COVID pandemic - is this a good thing for our admissions process?

Average scores on the ACT have plunged to an “alarming” three-decade low. According to the organization behind the exam, test-takers in 2022 earned an average score of 19.8 out of 36, down from 20.3 in 2021. And 42% of this year’s students failed to achieve the minimum score in English, math, reading and science, compared to just 38% in 2021. Scores on the SATs — rival exams that also aim to assess college readiness — declined as well. Fortunately for those who did poorly, many universities stopped requiring standardized tests during the pandemic.

 

[FanatiCat]

Interesting story but I think it has little to do with admissions at places like NU. On the contrary it probably highlights growing disparities. The 25-75th% SAT/ACT for top schools is only going up, reflecting a couple things. One, those who have resources for tutors, prep classes and multiple retakes are still getting near perfect scores while less resourced kids took a hit from shutdowns. Two, since schools went test optional, there may be an unwritten rule of thumb that if your scores are below the published 25-75% for the school, it can only hurt you to submit them. So this will result in a gradual upcreep of the average scores. The logical endpoint is when kids will have to get a perfect score to even bother submitting it.

 

[TheC]

Graduate schools are quickly abandoning these standardized tests. Time for undergrad programs to do the same.