Since March 13, 2020, people’s lives have been taken over by COVID-19 in all aspects. For high schoolers, their future has seemed mostly uncertain, specifically their college opportunities. As a result of the current pandemic, many colleges have decided to not require test scores with applications.
In America, many high-profile colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford have decided to become test optional for the year 2021 only, as found by Spark Admissions. However, some colleges including Boston University and Hawai’i Pacific University have decided to stretch out this decision until later on, ranging from the year 2022 to 2024.
“Personally, I don’t think that test scores should be optional because I feel like people who do submit these scores and do really well have a better chance of getting in. I think they should either be mandatory or just not accepted,” sophomore Ashley Yazvac said.
While this seems to be the unpopular opinion among students, this is a factor that colleges may weigh while making decisions, which is something applicants need to consider.
However, according to USA Today, when students across the country transferred from in person to online school, many seemed to struggle, and grades dropped as well. As the pandemic continues, so does this situation- which is a major part of why colleges have made this decision.
“I think that having scores be optional for colleges would make things easier for pretty much everyone and I hope that all colleges make this decision,” junior Brandon Cassar said.
To be exact, 185 colleges and universities have made testing scores optional for the year 2021, while 28 have made the choice for them to be non-mandatory for 2021 and beyond. Having these scores be optional allows for students to be less stressed out and lets them focus more on other aspects of their applications as well.
Ava Combs // Staff Writer
