This week we welcome Senior Assistant Director for International Admission, Sara Riggs, to the blog. Welcome, Sara!
I have a bad habit of misplacing my driver’s license. Usually, I request a replacement online. However, when I recently stashed it in a hiking bag or airport-designated travel pouch (or wherever licenses go to disappear), the impending REAL ID deadline motivated me to finally get my star-bearing, flight-approved copy. I gathered documents, tried, and failed to book an appointment, travelled to the DMV, drew a number, sat for three hours, turned in all my paperwork, took a mini driver’s test and vision check, and finally posed for a new requisitely terrible picture. It was a ton of prep work and a huge investment of time and emotional energy.
At worst, it was a nuisance and a waste of a beautiful Friday afternoon; at best, it allowed me to prove my identity and get the ID that signaled my validity to board a plane or drive a car.
Many (okay… most) students feel similar about testing: it can be an emotionally exhausting necessary nuisance that requires preparation and wastes precious weekend hours but creates “validity” about your preparation for college.
That sentiment is partially true: you can’t drive without a license, and you can’t apply to test-required schools (like Georgia Tech) without testing. However, just as your license isn’t the most important part of driving, testing is not the most important part of your college application process, regardless of where you’re applying. Having a license doesn’t automatically make you a good driver, and test scores don’t define the type of student you’ll be in a college community.
Debunking the Perception
First, let me alleviate your anxiety: you care more about testing than we do.
Admission professionals give countless presentations about the application process. I often forget to mention testing in my presentations even though we require it here at Tech. When I accidentally skip past this point, I can count on a prospective student or their family member to raise a hand and ask about test score averages or our middle 50%. My intentional reply that “I’m not sure” never seems to scratch their itch. Another well-researched and well-meaning student or family member usually chimes in with the answer, but I reframe the conversation.
I avoid knowing those numbers specifically because they don’t really signify much these days; plus I don’t want to give the impression that we see prospective students as potential test scores in next year’s app pool. We don’t. We see you as future classmates and community members, and that’s how we’d like you to view yourselves throughout this process, too.
Standardized test scores are high on the perceived value list for students who are applying to college, but those of us who are reviewing your application place less emphasis on this one metric than students often assume.
Case in point, this blog has hundreds of posts all about the college application process (such as this one about course rigor, or this one about essays, or this one about admission decisions) and very few entries about testing.
Context is Key for Everything… Even Testing
The fact is each year we inevitably say no to some applicants with perfect scores, and we say yes to some students whose scores fall below that middle 50%. Test scores are not the primary driver of admission decisions, and trying to chance yourself based on that single metric alone won’t be especially insightful.
For example, I specifically work with international applicants, and in some regions of the world where educational culture is centered around testing, almost all our applicants send exceptionally high scores. In other regions where educational culture is less focused on testing, we see generally lower score ranges from applicants. In the former, strong scores are not a differentiator or distinction, just as in the latter, relatively “lower” scores are not cause for concern. Similarly, in the US, we consider a student’s score within their educational environment, and view this (like all other elements of the application) through the appropriate contextual lens.
Ultimately, we consider each student’s test scores (like all other elements of the application) on an individual and contextual level.
The Reality
I’m going to level with you: SAT or ACT scores are a required element of our application process here at Georgia Tech. And students applying to Georgia Tech often have strong scores because strong students who are making strong grades and taking strong course loads often have strong scores (please note: correlation ≠ causation).
So how are we really using those scores? It depends! Ultimately, in addition to reviewing standardized test scores as a piece in the comprehensive review, we may revisit scores to fill in a gap we see in a specific application. For instance, we may be using them to help establish and understand your overall academic performance within context when other elements are less straightforward (like lack of choice in course selection or traditionally “rigorous” courses).
Or specifically in the international population I work with, sometimes a student will apply from a less-common-to-us national curriculum where we don’t understand the specific course content of “math 2” or “special math.” We do a bit of research to understand that curriculum or specific course to the best of our ability, but a quick look at a math score might alleviate initial concerns or hesitations that could otherwise exist.
So what are we trying to tell you? Do the prep work. Take it seriously. Take the test(s). But don’t let test prepping or test focus derail you from all the other important parts of your high school experience and the more significant parts of your college application (see: every other blog entry).
Test Policies Still Vary Widely
After reading this, are you still full of test anxiety and convinced your future hinges on a single score? Fully opposed to testing of any kind? The good news is you have LOTS of university options who will welcome your application with different types of testing or even no testing at all. Test blind, test optional, test flexible, test recommended, test required (hi!), etc., etc., etc. These are commonplace terms in the college admission landscape and are here to stay.
You don’t ever have to get a driver’s license if you prefer ride shares and using another form of ID at the airport. And you don’t ever have to take the SAT or ACT if you’d prefer test optional or test blind schools. We know there are lots of factors to consider when deciding the right choice for you, and we wish you the person (not the test score) a smooth and successful journey!
By the way, to get to the DMV that Friday afternoon, I had to drive there without a license. When I drove home, license in hand, I may have been more street legal, but I was the same driver. Likewise, you’ll be the same person both before and after any tests you take regardless of the score.
Sara Riggs has been with Georgia Tech since 2015. Before her time at Tech, she began her career in admission at a small, liberal arts college. She works primarily with international students and appreciates the truly global impact of a Georgia Tech education.