Harvard Reinstates Standardized Testing Requirement

Harvard College is reinstating the requirement for standardized testing, reversing course on a pandemic-era policy that made them optional. It follows similar moves from elite universities like Yale, Dartmouth, and MIT. Axios reports: At Harvard, the mandate will be in place for students applying to begin school in fall 2025. Harvard had previously committed to a test-optional policy for applicants through the class of 2030, which would have started in fall 2026. Most students who applied since the pandemic began have submitted test scores despite the test-optional policy, the university said.

Reviewing SAT/ACT scores as part of a student's application packet helps an admissions decision be holistic, the university said in a statement. 'Standardized tests are a means for all students, regardless of their background and life experience, to provide information that is predictive of success in college and beyond,' Hopi Hoekstra, a Harvard dean, said in the statement. 'Indeed, when students have the option of not submitting their test scores, they may choose to withhold information that, when interpreted by the admissions committee in the context of the local norms of their school, could have potentially helped their application.'

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