College Admissions Guide for Low Test Takers

This past summer, the University of Chicago made waves when they announced that they would not longer be requiring the SAT. This was remarkable because they were one of the first “elite” colleges to eliminate this requirement.

As most of us know, the SAT (or ACT) is one of the most terrifying parts of the admissions process for students. With that in mind, we decided to write this guide to help you tackle the admissions process if your test scores don’t accurately reflect you!

Even though testing is important, there are a number of things you can do to have a successful college admissions process:

Step 1:

Retake the SAT or ACT. This is the best option to start with. Most students see a nice jump after retaking the tests (after all, you are able to become more comfortable with the format).

Step 2:

It is important to understand that test scores are used differently by each college: some colleges count them more, some count them less. For most schools, the primary parts of the application review process are the high school transcript and the test scores. Tools like Naviance and Cappex Scattergrams can help you understand how your grades and test scores will stack up in a specific college’s applicant pool.

Step 3:

As mentioned at the top of the post, there are some FANTASTIC schools that do not require the SAT or ACT. Here are some of the best schools that do not require standardized testing:

Allegheny College (Meadville, PA)

American University (Washington, D.C.)

Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson)

Bates College (Lewiston, ME)

Beloit College (Beloit, WI)

Bowdoin College (Brunswick, ME)

Brandeis University (Waltham, MA)

Bryant University (Smithfield, RI)

Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, PA)

University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Clark University (Worcester, MA)

Colby College (Waterville, ME)