Testing Updates in Response to COVID-19
A roundup of admissions news and test-related changes, updated regularly.
June SAT Canceled; August and Fall SATs in High Demand
Just under a month after canceling the May 2nd SAT, the College Board called off the June 6th SAT as well. After announcing plans to develop an at-home SAT in the case schools remain closed in the fall, the organization paused research and development around at-home SAT testing due to public criticism.
Students reports on Reddit that fall SAT test dates, which opened just last week, are already filling up. Anticipating such demand, the College Board preemptively added an SAT test date in the fall (September 26), giving students access to testing in every month from August until December.
Only 33% of ACT Test Centers in Operation in June
After initially announcing that the June and July tests would go on – and that “makeup” days would be added to accommodate cancellations – ACT has finally released a list of closed testing sites unable to administer the June 13th exam. Moreover, all mention of makeup dates has been scrubbed from ACT’s website.
Based on analysis of the ACT’s testing center cancellation list, some have concluded that only 33% of testing sites slated to offer the June exam are still planning to do so. In the states with most Covid-19 cases per capita, there are only a handful of testing sites scheduled to offer the ACT in June. ACT recently released a video that insists it remains committed to offer the July exam and will work to add sites to accommodate demand.
At-Home AP Exams Experience Rocky Rollout
College Board announced in March its plan to administer 45-min. take-home AP exams in lieu of in-person proctored tests, Given the variability in remote learning access during school closures, exams will only cover AP curriculum typically taught by early March. And to make up for lost classroom review time, College Board is expanding access to review materials on its website and live review sessions via its AP YouTube channel.
Earlier this month, the AP program released a revised exam schedule with local start times, as well as more details about exam contents and format. Beyond the new schedule, the most important clarifications in this announcement involved the open book/open note feature of the exams (a detail "leaked" early via Twitter) and the abbreviated format, with most tests consisting of only 1-2 short-answer problems. Specific units from AP curricula covered on each AP test will also be valuable to students studying for these tests.
College Board’s official stance on the at-home AP rollout has been celebratory, if not somewhat defensive; news of multiple student-led lawsuits against the organization suggests there may be more to the story.
GRE, GMAT At-Home; LSAT-Flex Offered in April and Beyond
The first graduate examination organization to announce a change was ETS, the organization that administers GRE and TOEFL. Since its at-home testing protocol rolled out in late March, both GMAC and LSAC (the organizations governing the administration of GMAT and LSAT, respectively) have unveiled plans to offer tests remotely as well.
By all accounts, the “GRE at home” has proceeded smoothly: it uses a platform identical to that offered via the PowerPrep II software available for practice on ETS’s website, the live proctors working for ProctorU have been easy to communicate with, and few complaints have been issued by testers. (Like most ETS products, the at-home GRE software doesn’t run on Macs, so students will need to secure a PC.)
In contrast, the GMAT Online began operating yesterday, amid concerns on the part of testers. At issue is the requirement that students use an online whiteboard to work out math problems, which many students worry is more cumbersome and time-consuming than a physical whiteboard and pen – standard GMAT Quantitative materials for years.
Since the LSAT went digital rather recently (September 2019), LSAC was in a weaker position to host a remote test. After canceling the April 25th LSAT administration, the organization released details about an abbreviated at-home version of the test to be administered over a weeklong period beginning May 18th. Though scoring scales and percentiles will be identical, the LSAT-Flex will be 70 minutes shorter than a typical LSAT, and score reports will be demarcated to signify the test was administered remotely. Law school admissions officers have yet to weigh in on how these changes will affect their review processes, but the abbreviated format may be the LSAT of the future.
NCAA Loosens Eligibility Requirements
Finally, in a long-awaited update, the NCAA revised its initial-eligibility requirements for seniors intending to compete in Division I and II athletics. The organization maintained its 2.3 GPA standard, but reduced the core-course requirement from 16 to 10 courses to allow students not receiving letter grades for the 2019-2020 academic year to demonstrate eligibility. It also waived the standardized test score requirement. (Typically, students must verify their academic track record by achieving scores commensurate with their GPA, using a sliding scale.)
These changes only apply to class of 2020 (graduating seniors), though NCAA may extend them to future classes if access to testing continues to be perceived as a hardship.
Conclusion
Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to put testing organizations on the defense. Stay tuned for further updates to testing and admissions – and check out our COVID-19 resource page for more links and information.
