Just Equations founder and CEO Pamela Burdman advocates for the post–coronavirus crisis extension of standardized test-optional UC and CSU admissions in this op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The University of California made a wise and timely decision to suspend the admissions testing requirements for current high school juniors who will apply to the university in the fall of 2021. Given that coronavirus cancellations made timely testing impossible for hundreds of thousands of students around the country, expecting them to adhere to the SAT and ACT requirements would have been grossly unfair.
By waiving the requirement, UC will be adopting a “test-optional” policy for the next admissions cycle, something that is in place at hundreds of universities around the country on a regular basis. And, notwithstanding a faculty task force recommendation that UC retain the SAT and ACT for at least nine years (while they design a new test), there is a strong case for making the short-term test waiver a permanent policy for UC admits.
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