Many schools have embraced the test-optional rule under the assumption that it would bolster equity and diversity, since higher scores are correlated with privilege.
Many low-income and minority students withheld scores that could have gotten them in, wrongly assuming that their scores were too low, according to an analysis by Dartmouth.
I was one of the disadvantaged youths who are often failed by test-optional policies, striving to get into college while in foster care and homeless.
What these conversations overlook is the hope these tests offer students who are in difficult situations.
I will always feel tenderness toward the Scantron sheets that unlocked higher education and a better life.
Organizations:
University of Texas, Austin, ACT, Dartmouth