很多的學(xué)校在這兩年疫情期間宣布SAT/ACT/GRE/GMAT 等標(biāo)化考試為optional， 有的設(shè)置去掉了遞交成績(jī)?nèi)肟?，意味著是完全不需要的。學(xué)校的解釋一般是疫情，考生考試比較不方便。但也有學(xué)校是宣布比如SAT/ACT是永久的不要求了，而給出的理由是這些考試反應(yīng)出來(lái)的更多是階級(jí)的差異，比如家境好的，一般考試考的好，因?yàn)橛凶銐蚨嗟馁Y源去考高分。

以上觀點(diǎn)的來(lái)源

While the College Board continued to look for ways to make the SAT more equitable. Some colleges came up with a solution of their own, not requiring the SAT in the first place. That's after the break. The idea to make tests like the SAT optional has been quietly gaining momentum for decades.

So there's been a movement that's been going on for 40 years, and that has been schools are moving test optional.

出處 WSJ: Is This the End of the SAT? FEBRUARY 1, 2022

關(guān)于第二個(gè)理由，確實(shí)標(biāo)化考試背后有比較嚴(yán)重的階級(jí)差異，但是申請(qǐng)里面的其他的類(lèi)別，特別是課外的活動(dòng)背后的階級(jí)差異是更為嚴(yán)重的。所以這個(gè)理由是不完全成立的，只能說(shuō)社會(huì)的矛頭在這個(gè)考試上，而對(duì)于學(xué)校來(lái)說(shuō)去掉考試要求，相比于去掉其他的要求是公關(guān)起來(lái)更為容易的。

另外讓考試為optional 對(duì)于學(xué)校的ranking 其實(shí)影響也不大。下面是US News 的college 排名標(biāo)準(zhǔn)

highlight 部分可以看到成績(jī)的占比是整體的5%，哪怕是和新生有關(guān)的全部項(xiàng)目的影響加起來(lái)也只是7%，不算是一個(gè)很影響排名的因素。當(dāng)然我們也可以認(rèn)為對(duì)于頂尖學(xué)校來(lái)說(shuō)，5%的權(quán)重也是要好好把握的。那么我們來(lái)看下這個(gè)權(quán)重分是怎么可以拿到的？對(duì)于名校來(lái)說(shuō)，考試optional 對(duì)于ta們的排名有沒(méi)有影響？

Schools were instructed to report scores for all exams they had on record, including in cases when an exam was not used in the admissions decision. Schools that excluded groups of students in their reporting – such as student athletes and international students – had their test scores discounted in the calculations by 15%. Separately, in a change due to the disruption of SAT and ACT test taking and the college admission process caused by the coronavirus, schools reporting a total count of SAT and ACT submissions less than 50% of their fall 2020 entering classes had their test scores discounted by 15% in the rankings calculations. This is a change from previous years, which were based on a 75% submission rate of fall entering students before the ACT and SAT scores were discounted by 15% in the rankings.

出自 US News 官網(wǎng) A More Detailed Look at the Ranking Factors 

之前是學(xué)校遞交的數(shù)據(jù)如果沒(méi)有達(dá)到75%以上的新生有SAT/ACT 成績(jī)，在這個(gè)項(xiàng)目上就會(huì)懲罰性的discount 15%，因?yàn)橐咔?，目前只?0% 的新生有遞交成績(jī)就好。所以對(duì)于要拿到這個(gè)5%權(quán)重分?jǐn)?shù)的名校來(lái)說(shuō)，只要有一半的同學(xué)有高分的SAT/ACT 就夠了。而對(duì)于這些學(xué)校來(lái)說(shuō)，錄取的學(xué)生里有50%的同學(xué)還有標(biāo)化考試成績(jī)是比較容易實(shí)現(xiàn)的；

至于那些直接沒(méi)有給成績(jī)遞交入口的學(xué)校，你可以理解為，ta們可能不覺(jué)得這個(gè)5%的權(quán)重對(duì)于ta們的排名有什么影響。

綜上可以看出，考試成績(jī)optional，對(duì)于學(xué)校來(lái)說(shuō)不存在太明顯的犧牲。