UC schools end the use of SAT/ACT!!!!!

I watched that video as well and Brook said they will only be test blind for 3 admissions cycles so 21/22, 22/23, and 23/24. It pretty much affects everyone in high school for the time being.

While it might be a good idea, I personally do not believe that the UC system comprised of great schools with 10-20% acceptance rates and "meh" schools with 70% acceptance rates like UC Merced, can provide applicants with a thorough holistic application review without test scores to the 250,000 applicants that expect a fair shake.

While UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, and UCSD might have the skillset to do so since they have better admissions teams, I don't think the UC Riversides, UC Santa Cruz's, etc would be doing a very good job at all distinguishing who is the best fit for their schools.

What I think will happen is that the UC schools will get a huge spike in applications which will artificially make their acceptance rates look very low. So maybe over the next 3 years, we will see Berkeley and UCLA get like 150,000 applications each because everyone and their cousin will apply there since it's test-blind. This will make admit rates dip below 10% says to the Rice U or Cornell levels. I think some really top students from CA will skip applying to Berkeley or UCLA entirely because if they can get financial aid from the Ivys or Elites it might be better to go there.

Why I think this is problematic is because the mandate for the UC Schools is to provide the best level of education for CA residents, especially to give a hand up to BIPOC Low Income CA residents. But if you are a high-achieving BIPOC low-income CA resident, there are much better options in CA and the rest of the country. Therefore the UC system is failing that low-income to a middle-class group of students that are high achieving.

Lets hope they get their act together.

I am shocked, but not disappointed. As someone said before me this takes people from poorer backgrounds into account. On top of them being unable to get tutors, they also can't afford to re-take or take certain tests. At my high school everyone is required to take the ACT their junior year. A person who has a poor background if they don't get a score they like. They don't have the opportunity to retake it or if they are just better at the SAT they won't have this opportunity either. My school also offers a fee waiver, but you have to be borderline homeless for them to accept it. It doesn't help the parents and their students who have an apartment/trailer, who just doesn't have extra money to spare.

On another note, in my opinion, those test scores never accurately conveyed how successful a student would be in the college classroom. A standardized test is considerably different than a standard class. For my understanding colleges with low acceptance rates have high expectations for their students inside and outside the classroom. Not just in a testing room for 4-5 dull hours, so considering how a student was in high school is more accurate. Did they stay after longer to ask questions? Were they active in the classroom? Did they pursue any passions outside of school hours? These all represent accurate ways of looking at a potential student. If all the answers are yes then their grades, extracurriculars, and teacher recommendations will represent the evidence of this.

Here to offer a different perspective, although standardized tests are very helpful for cases like this, they are often unfair to students who come from poorer backgrounds and don't have the means or access to a tutor, or an act prep class.

I agree and disagree. I was really shocked by this as well! While I feel the elimination of the SAT in EVERY college would be beneficial, I am not so sure about only a selected number of colleges getting rid of it. I completely agree with you on your opinion of race not factoring into the admission process. However, sadly no matter what rules we have in place preventing this, I feel this will forever be an issue. One reason colleges do factor race into the admission process is to increase (or just change) the diversity of their campus, which I support, BUT! I feel turning down a person of a specific race just so your school can have the benefit of diversity still is unfair. It's kinda complicated.

In terms of the SAT, I wish we somehow had a different method of testing "intelligence" and "critical thinking" as College Board likes to call it. But, then again, with every standardized test there will still be advantages given to the wealthy. It really is hard to test these things. Glad this is brought into discussion though! :)