On Feb. 23, Yale University announced that applicants will be required to submit standardized test scores beginning in the fall of 2025, ending the "no test" policy that was prevalent during the pandemic.
In fact, long before the official announcement of the resumption of the submission of standardized scores by Ivy League schools, mainstream American ** such as "The New York Times" and "Forbes" have long been tracking the new trends of standardized tests such as SAT and ACT.
An academic study released last summer by Opportunity Insights, which included eight Ivy League universities, as well as Duke University, MIT, Stanford and the University of Chicago, showed that high school GPAs were weakly correlated with students' performance in college, in contrast to standardized grades that were closely associated with students' later success.
Although, standardized tests are not perfect, but they do prepare students academically for college. Students tend to get higher GPAs at Yale.
According to recent data released by Yale University, the number of applications for admission this fall exceeded 57,000, a record high. This figure is partly due to the test-optional policy that has been implemented in the past. However, with the implementation of the new policy mandating students to submit standardized test scores, it is expected that this move may have some impact on the number of applications to Yale University in the future. Still, Yale believes that requiring standardized test scores is a key move to raise admissions standards and select a diverse and exceptional student body.
For international school industry practitioners and prospective international students, the "standardized test" is not unfamiliar, and generally refers to the standardized SAT or ACT for admission to American universities, that is, the "American college entrance examination". For Chinese students, standardized scores also include TOEFL, IELTS and other language proficiency scores, which must be submitted even if they do not consider standardized schools.
Generally speaking, the requirements for standardized scores in American universities are broadly divided into four types:
1. test- required: Applicants must submit standardized scores, such as MIT, etc.;
2. test- flexible: flexible submission, which can be replaced by IB AP and other grades;
3. test- optional: Standardized optional, applicants can choose whether to submit grades according to their own situation, not submitting will not affect admission, and the submitting school will also be included in the scope of application material review, which is also the policy adopted by most American colleges and universities;
4. Test-blind, refuse to submit, the university does not consider the applicant's standardized score at all, and the California department adopts this policy.
Yale University says that applicants are allowed to substitute AP Advanced Placement or IB International Baccalaureate test scores for SAT and ACT scores, and students can choose one or more of the four AP, IB, SAT, and ACT scores to submit. In response, Yale added that focusing only on ACT and SAT scores may make some promising students give up on applying to Yale, but applicants should not expect to take more tests to increase their chances of success.
In fact, Yale is not the only American university that has restarted standardization, as early as March last year, Columbia University announced that it would permanently maintain the policy of selective submission of standardized grades.
Both Harvard and Princeton University have indicated that they will continue to implement a policy of selective submission of standardized scores for the next two application cycles, the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 academic years.
While standardized tests can be harmful to low-income and disadvantaged students who are supposed to benefit, standardized test scores can reveal the potential of low-income and disadvantaged students who are expected to grow significantly in college. Poor students with high scores show great potential for the future.
Finally, judging from the recent standardized score requirements of many universities, there may still be more American universities that require SAT ACT, so students should pay close attention to the latest policy changes, actively understand and properly respond to this change, and formulate the best application strategy according to their own situation. If you have any questions about school selection, major selection, background improvement, essay writing, etc., please feel free to consult with the assistant