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COVID-19 and the SAT: Will the Fallout Sideline the Class of 2021? Part 1 of 3

Covid-19 and standardized testing: First Scenario

Reports of rising cases of COVID-19 in the United States and the impact of the pandemic on the economy have monopolized the news. But what about our high school juniors fast approaching their College Application seasons? As it stands right now, the admission testing required by over 85% of American colleges and universities has been made unavailable to students since March. The SAT was cancelled in March for many New Jersey students whose high school testing locations were closed due to early cases of Coronavirus in the community. Two weeks later, once all U.S. schools had closed, the College Board, the private company responsible for the SAT, and ACT Inc. both suspended their next rounds of testing, the May SAT and the April ACT. This left hundreds of thousands of 11th graders across the country prepped for the spring testing, but with no tests to take. According to CDC recommendations and with New Jersey still three weeks away from the peak of the pandemic, it is a very real possibility that the June SAT and ACT will be cancelled as well.

So where does this leave our juniors with no Spring SAT’s and early admission deadlines as early as October 15, 2020? As I see it, we have three possible outcomes. The first hinges on the CDC and local governments giving the all clear by August for public high schools to reopen as testing centers. This would enable the August SAT to run as scheduled. In this scenario, the October test date would also run as scheduled giving college applicants those 2 test dates only to reach their career high scores before the Early Admission deadlines. Of course, in this scenario it is certainly possible that colleges will extend their deadlines for application as they are always the good guys in the process. For example after Hurricane Sandy, colleges extended application deadlines for all students in areas affected by the storm. Extended deadlines could give Early Admission applicants the chance to submit scores from the November and December SAT’s as well. The College Board will no doubt be looking for every opportunity to schedule make up dates to avoid issuing refunds for the canceled March and May tests, but the college application timeline itself will limit just how many they can schedule.

Marlee Napurano, BA Yale University, is Co-founder of WaveLength tutoring and test prep, a test preparation and college consulting company in its 19th year serving Monmouth and Ocean counties.

COVID-19 and the SAT: Will the Fallout Sideline the Class of 2021? Part 2 of 3

Coronavirus Standardized Testing SAT ACT

Covid-19 and standardized testing: Second Scenario

In the second scenario, if state clearance is not in place in time to permit the administering of the August SAT, it is entirely possible that colleges will not want their application season contingent upon students’ opportunity to take the SAT and ACT. In this case, colleges will waive standardized testing for that admission cycle, essentially going Test Optional nationwide for the class of 2021. In place of the SAT/ACT, the colleges will impose some other requirements such as a graded writing sample or extra essays. Either way, there will be additional hoops to jump through. Graduate school programs are already setting precedent for this scenario with universities poised to announce their waiving of GRE and GMAT scores for admission for Masters and MBA programs.

The impact of this scenario could, of course, be devastating for the College Board and ACT Inc.. Once we get used to something, we are likely to stick with it, and both testing bureaus could find their positions precarious for future admission cycles.  In an effort to avoid this, the testing bureaus may be driven to a third scenario.

Marlee Napurano, BA Yale University, is Co-founder of WaveLength tutoring and test prep, a test preparation and college consulting company in its 19th year serving Monmouth and Ocean counties.

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