One Big Idea: Student Haley Casten on Eliminating the SAT

In this 2021 Future of School episode, Haley Casten, a rising senior at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, Colorado, makes the case for eliminating the SAT or reducing its weight in college admissions. The section added below looks at the debate over eliminating the SAT as it stands after Dartmouth and MIT brought testing requirements back.

If you could share One Big Idea to change the future of education, what would it be? 

In the 13th episode of Future of School’s One Big Idea series, our guest is Haley Casten, a rising senior at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, Colorado. 

Future of School: The PodcastOne Big Idea: Student Haley Casten on Eliminating the SAT (S2E13)July 21, 2021 · 11 minPlay episode: One Big Idea: Student Haley Casten on Eliminating the SAT (S2E13) (11 minutes)0:00-11:00Follow on SpotifyApple

Haley shares her big idea of eliminating the SAT and other high-stakes college admissions exams, or at least reducing their importance to the admissions process. She explains how for many students, like herself, who are good students but have anxiety around test-taking, they may not perform on the test in a way that demonstrates their actual ability. From Haley’s point of view, it’s much better to look at the student holistically, including their grades, character, extracurricular activities, and other well-rounded factors that are a truer representation of who they are as a learner. 

“My grades are all A’s and B’s, and I feel that my SAT score doesn’t really show how hard I work in those classes, and how smart I actually am,” Haley explains. 

What’s your One Big Idea to transform education? Connect with us on social media or on our website, www.futureof.school, to share! Follow Future of School on Twitter @futureof_school and follow Amy Valentine @amyvalentine555.

Learn more about Future of School and its mission to mobilize change in American K-12 education from a one-size-fits-all system to one that ensures all students reach their unbounded potential no matter where their learning takes place at www.futureof.school. 

Eliminating the SAT: what happened to test-optional admissions and what students should do

When Haley Casten argued for eliminating the SAT in 2021, the pandemic had already led colleges such as Dartmouth to drop their testing requirements, and the change looked as though it might become permanent. Casten’s reasoning, described above, is that a student with mostly A and B grades and anxiety about testing may earn a score that understates how hard that student works. Since then, some of the most selective colleges have reversed course, so the question of eliminating the SAT now has more evidence behind both sides than it did in 2021.

Why some colleges brought testing back

Dartmouth College announced on February 5, 2024 that it would require the SAT or ACT again, beginning with the class of 2029, after dropping the requirement in June 2020. According to BestColleges, which updated its report on February 7, 2024, an internal Dartmouth study using 2017 to 2022 data reached three conclusions. Test scores helped the college identify high-achieving applicants from middle-income and low-income backgrounds. Test-optional policies had not increased the share of first-generation or lower-income students. And scores predicted academic success better than high school grade point average or class rank alone. The same report records that 31 percent of students did not submit scores under the optional policy, mostly those scoring 1450 or below, and that an applicant from an under-resourced background with a 1400 was twice as likely to be admitted as a peer with the same score who was not under-resourced.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave a related reason in a March 2022 post by its dean of admissions, Stu Schmill. Schmill wrote that considering scores, especially in math, substantially improves MIT’s predictions of student success even after controlling for socioeconomic factors, and that tests can identify well-prepared students who lack advanced courses or enrichment, because grades and recommendations also track family income. Schmill notes that the first year at MIT is often a series of high-stakes math tests, so the college wants evidence of math readiness. These are statements by one institution about its own applicants and should not be read as a finding about every college.

The case that still favors dropping or reducing tests

Casten’s argument has support too. The BestColleges report points out that scores are not evenly distributed: it cites research from Opportunity Insights, a Harvard-based group, that found that standardized tests predict success better than grades, yet students from the wealthiest families were 15 times more likely to score 1500 or higher on the SAT, and among applicants with the same scores the wealthiest were twice as likely to be accepted. The report adds that wealthier students can more easily pay for preparation, books and retakes, and that Dartmouth’s own study acknowledges this. A 2020 Brookings Institution report cited there links score gaps between racial groups to income and wealth gaps that affect access to test preparation. Opinion among students is divided: a BestColleges survey from 2023 found 52 percent favoring test-optional policies, while 47 percent considered test scores fair and 43 percent saw them as a good measure of college readiness.

The two sets of findings do not contradict each other as sharply as the headlines suggest. A test can add useful information about readiness and also reflect advantages that some families have. Admissions offices then have to decide which of those facts weighs more for their own applicants, and the colleges above have decided differently from the many that remain test-optional.

What students, families and counselors can do

1. Check each college’s current policy. Policies have been changing, and a college that was optional last year may require scores for the next class. The admissions page of each college is the authority.
2. Plan for both outcomes. A student who is unsure should prepare for the test early enough to take it once or twice without pressure, and then decide with a counselor which colleges to send scores to.
3. Treat the score as one part of the file. Casten’s point that grades, character and activities show a fuller picture is a fair description of what an application contains. BestColleges reports that test-optional policies put more weight on counselor recommendations, non-academic ratings and transcripts, and that the Dartmouth study argues the first two can favor higher-income applicants, which is a reason to ask teachers and counselors early and to give them time to write well.
4. Raise test anxiety early. A student who freezes on timed tests can tell a counselor well before registering, so that the school can help with a practice plan and with questions about testing accommodations.

Eliminating the SAT remains a live proposal, and the strongest version of Casten’s argument is about fairness to students whose scores understate their ability. Dartmouth’s 2024 reversal and MIT’s 2022 one show that colleges weighing the same concern have sometimes concluded that scores serve under-resourced applicants better than their absence does. Both claims can be checked against a college’s own data, which is the most useful question a family or a high school counselor can ask.

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