How students are preparing for college admissions changes

Colleges across the country removed their standardized test requirements during the pandemic. Now, four years later, the UNC system might return to requiring all applicants to submit their scores.

The system started the waiver period in July 2020, allowing student to choose whether or not to submit their scores. The Board of Governors extended this period twice through to Fall 2024. Now, the Board has the option to require scores from all applicants or only those who don't meet a certain GPA requirement.

For students like Annalise Rich, a sophomore at Cardinal Gibbons High School, they’re preparing early. She took the SAT last weekend, a year before most students test.

“We've been doing prep for a couple of months before this. So, yeah, more over the summer, more next year, of course,” Rich says she sees the advantages she has but says not everyone has the same opportunity.“I know that it can definitely put students at a disadvantage, especially those who come from families where they can't afford all the tutoring and prep and taking it multiple times,”

However, Stephen Porter, professor of higher eduation at North Carolina State University, says that’s not actually the case.

“What's ironic about this whole discussion of standardized test scores is that the SAT, the origin of the SAT, was precisely to help students in poverty get into college,” Porter says universities don’t need to use the scores, but they’re an indicator of how successful a student will be in college courses. Since every junior in North Carolina takes the ACT, it makes sense for schools to require scores.

“I think there's a lot of different options besides simply not require students to submit a test score, which, to my mind seems kind of ridiculous,” Porter adds.

Now, the UNC System has a big decision to make. There are two options:

• If the Board does not decide this year:
  • Class of Fall 2025: Waiver expires, and policy returns to 2020 standards (2.5 GPA OR 19 on ACT/1010 on SAT)
• If the Board decides on the draft policy
  • Class of Fall 2025: Test scores are required for those applying in Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 if weighted GPA is between 2.5 and 2.8
  • Fall 2026 and after: Minimum score of 17 on ACT or 930 on SAT if weighted GPA is between 2.5 and 2.8
  • Individual universities could require scores from all applicants in approved by President and Board of Governors

This decision to leave test optional admissions behind comes as the Board reviews research from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The department found that while GPA is a good predictor for student success, there has been a recent, growing trend of grade inflation. This means teachers are giving students higher scores than they deserve.

DPI also found that ACT scores are good predictors, with those scoring above a 17 having an average GPA of over 2.6 for their first year in college. Throughout the waiver period, DPI’s research shows a drop in first-year GPA, academic progress, and retention from Fall-to-Fall semesters.

While the UNC System has not decided which of the two plans they will enforce, students preparing early will have a greater chance of getting the score they want.

Lauryn Lovett is a senior at the University of North Carolina double majoring in Journalism and Political Science. She is a News Intern for ABC 11/WTVD-TV, an anchor/reporter for UNC's student newscast Carolina Week, and a reporter for UNC Media Hub.