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"Test-optional" and "test-blind" are vastly different. If I can get a leg up on the competition by taking the test, then it's basically required even if it's technically optional.


True. I find the ideological movement against standardized testing really disturbing. Their basic point is that students from affluent families are more likely to do well on standardized tests (which is true), and that therefore eliminating the tests as enrollment requirements will level the playing field (which does not follow).

For instance - to use your example - which student is more likely to be given your advice: the one from an affluent family attending a well-funded school, or the (let's posit much smarter) one from a family of non-college attendees living in an under-funded district? When the SAT was a formal requirement they'd be more likely to be judged on an actually level playing field.




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