Throughout most of high school, there is a heavy emphasis placed on the importance of a high ACT or SAT score in order to be accepted into the school one desires. However, a new method of admissions has challenged this widespread belief.

During the past eight years, many schools have become “test optional,” meaning they do not require prospective students to send in their test scores when applying for undergraduate admissions.

Kalamazoo College is one of the 815 schools that made the switch to being a test optional school based on the belief that test score does not equal merit. Admissions officers see a direct correlation between income and standardized test scores; emphasizing that weighing these scores in admission is an unfair process.

For those who may not have performed as well as they would have liked on the ACT or SAT, a list of test optional schools and more
information regarding the emergence of this new admissions process can be learned at fairtest.org.