April 1, 2025 In the years post-pandemic, several of the Ivy League institutions (along with their shadowed, loosely defined cousins, the “Ivy Plus” universities) have re-instituted their policy of requiring the SAT for admission. I have said several times in public, and I’ll repeat here, that I don’t care if they do or they don’t, […]
This is one of those posts where I’m trying to figure out where to start, and which direction to take it. So let’s just start with the facts. ACT and Revolution Prep yesterday announced a “strategic” partnership that makes the latter one of the former’s “Preferred Test Prep Partners.” For the low, low price of […]
Five years ago on March 25, 2020, all the public universities in Oregon announced that they had adopted a test-optional admission policy for first-year students. Although other institutions around the country were making similar announcements about the same time due to the onset of COVID and cancelled SAT and ACT administrations, the Oregon public universities’ […]
Last week, I wrote about how College Board and the Highly Rejective Colleges are to blame for the concerns being expressed by many high school and independent counselors about the lack of SAT testing sites in their communities. In some discussion groups I participate in, these concerns are increasing and amplifying. And to date, College […]
We shouldn’t be surprised. But before I tell you what they’re doing again, let’s remember what they did. During the COVID-19 pandemic, College Board moved to a 45-minute, online AP exam. It was a time of great stress and uncertainty, of course, and with regard to logistics and mechanics, they had no choice but to […]
I’m sick of this crap. To reiterate, I don’t care about tests, other than to point out repeatedly the essential absurdity of the very concept. Use them if you want, Love them if you want. I work at a university that doesn’t require them, and I work on the west coast, where they’re essentially meaningless. I’m retiring in three […]
Jon Boeckenstedt's Admissions Weblog 