How Beaver’s decision to go ‘testing optional’ has not changed the admission process
When Beaver Country Day decided to go testing optional because of the pandemic, the decision sent shock waves through the independent/boarding school community in Brookline and Newton. No longer would students applying to Beaver be required to send ISEE or SSAT scores as part of the application process. In its stead, students are asked to write a supplementary personal statement. Students applying to the #13 ranked high school in Boston would no longer have to devote hours to test preparation and pay exorbitant sums for private tutoring. Was the great testing divide between the haves and the have nots finally disappearing?
In short, the answer is No. I applaud Beaver for its willingness to buck the trend in which private schools increasingly rely on standardized test scores to make admission decisions. It has a long history of making bold decisions that set it apart from other schools in the area. Like Concord Academy, which recently did away with the official title and lesson plans of Advanced Placement (AP) exam, Beaver educators substituted a quantitative measurement with a qualitative one. Additionally, Beaver teachers now write their own curriculum for Zoom courses and and the feedback I have received from current Beaver parents is extremely positive.
That being said, of the top 31 independent schools in Massachusetts, very few have followed suit. They are not alone. Even during a pandemic, only 18% of independent schools in the country are currently “testing-optional” according to US News & World report.
Does this mean students who are applying to Beaver should not submit ISEE or SSAT scores? Among brave universities that have gone “testing optional” there is a dirty little secret. If a student refrains from sending his scores, there is an underlying question in the back of the minds of the admission committee. Did the student actually take the exam and if so, why has he not submitted his scores? The reality is that there is still a noticeable bias among private schools and universities. If you choose not send your daughter’s, in the eyes of the admissions committee, she bombed the exam.
As a result, I counsel prospective parents to always send their child’s scores. If the scores are low or even mediocre, hire a private tutor (for pete’s sake, there are so many of us now), sign your daughter up for a test preparation course, take books out of the library from a test preparation company and work with him nightly to understand the different test sections. The key is that standardized tests are 100% coachable. The proof is in the pudding. A student’s test results almost invariably improve with each sitting.
Will students actually be evaluated on qualitative not quantitative measurements for the first time in Beaver’s application history? No. The reason schools use standardized test scores is to compare applicants across different backgrounds. Since all applicants take the same exam, an eager public school kid (working his butt off after hours in the library) can be compared to a suburban child attending boarding school (whose parents have paid for an elite private tutor specializing in ISEE prep, i.e. me). Standardized testing is not going anywhere soon.
For parents who are on the fence about sending a student’s standardized test scores this application season, my advice is simple: wait until the scores reflect his or her ability. Work with your child on a nightly basis on math content, or vocabulary words, reading comprehension and quantitative comparisons. Or if that sounds daunting, reach out to my office. I’ll help you increase your student’s percentiles by at least 20 percentage points. We can then determine when to send in your child’s scores. I promise that your family will be rewarded come March 10th with some very promising news.
