What Colleges Want (Part 9): A Crash Course in Standardized Testing

Today’s episode concludes our 9-part “What Colleges Want” series, where we’ve been walking through the results of the report released by the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC) regarding the factors that colleges deem important. Ethan is joined by Jay Rosner (Executive Director of The Princeton Review Foundation) to talk about standardized testing. 

In this episode they get into: 

• What are the origins of the SAT?
• What’s changed in the testing landscape in the last year or two? 
• Does test optional really mean test optional?
• How much standardized tests matter for colleges?
• How do students figure out their preparation timeline and which test to take? 
• Why might testing be considered problematic?

As the Executive Director of The Princeton Review Foundation, Jay Rosner has developed programs jointly with such organizations as the NAACP, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, College and Graduate Horizons (serving Native American students) and the Asian Pacific Fund. Jay's career has combined education and law, with an emphasis on student advocacy. He has testified before state legislative committees in California, Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, and as an expert witness in cases involving testing. Before attending law school, Jay was a public high school math teacher. Jay holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, a JD from Widener University, and is the proud father of two grown daughters.

Hope you enjoy! 

Play-by-play

• 2:16 - How does Jay know so much about standardized tests? 
• 4:23 - What are the origins of the SAT?
• 6:40 - How has standardized testing changed in recent years?
• 11:25 - Is test-optional really optional? 
• 13:26 - How much do standardized tests matter in the application review?
• 14:49 - Who should take standardized tests?
• 20:24 - Is it better to take the SAT or the ACT?
• 23:30 - What are the benefits of quality test prep? 
• 27:10 - How can students reach their best score? 
• 33:54 - How do students know if they should submit their scores or not? 
• 38:40 - Advice for counselors working with students in marginalized populations  
• 42:05 - Why do some folks find standardized testing to be problematic?
• 45:00 - Closing advice for students and counselors 

Resources

• List of test-optional and test-free schools
• CEG's Crash Course to Standardized Testing
• Add’l Info Sample on Testing