Making the Switch
One thing that always bothered Angel B. Perez about the traditional decision process was the fact that standardized tests are not necessarily the best predictors of college success. “Then why are they required?” asks Perez, VP of enrollment and student success at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. “And, are there other ways we can give students the opportunity to represent their predictability for success during the application process?”
Last year, Perez presented these arguments to Trinity College’s faculty, board of trustees, and admissions team. Using his past experience at a different test-optional school as foundational proof, he was able to get everyone on board with a new admissions policy that kicked in last fall. The idea caught on quickly among applicants, nearly half of which did not submit test scores. “I’m blown away by that number,” says Perez. “I didn’t expect that many students to take us up on that offer so quickly.”
Perez, who sees anxiety over the new SAT format—and over testing in general—as one of the key drivers of that quick adoption. On a more global scale, he says the test-optional approach helps schools net a higher percentage of engaged, interested, and intellectual students who just may not test well, for whatever reason. When reviewing applications, Perez says Trinity College’s admissions team looks at high school grades, curriculum, and—perhaps most importantly—context. “All grades are not created equal,” he points out, “so look at how the individual has performed academically in the context of what was offered at that particular high school (i.e., honors courses, AP courses, college prep courses, etc.).”
Trinity College also pays “very close attention” to teachers’ recommendation letters and uses them as an indicator of what the student will “be like in the classroom,” says Perez. “I look for keywords like curiosity, engagement, participation, and perseverance.”
From a practical perspective, Perez says managing the test-optional institution is more difficult than putting a high emphasis on text scores. “You can’t be formulaic about it; you can’t just say this GPA plus this SAT equals a ‘yes,’” says Perez. “We read every file twice before it goes to an admissions committee for a third review. For 7,000 applications, that’s 21,000 touches spread across a staff of 11 people. It’s a lot of work in a 3-month span.”
Technology helps to ease some of that burden. For example, Trinity College’s admission department recently started using Technolutions Slate, which includes customer relationship management (CRM), outreach, travel management, online applications, and online reading. “With the volume of applications we’re managing, we could never be reading files on paper,” says Perez. “We just couldn’t do it.”
(Next page: Finding test-optional admissions success)
Bridget McCrea is an editorial freelancer for eCampus News.
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