College applications pour in because of optional ACT, SAT test scores amid COVID-19 – By Lindsay Schnell (USA Today) / June 25 2021
Melanie Urgiles considered Johns Hopkins University a “reach” school.
The first-generation Latina student from Sleepy Hollow High, 25 miles outside Manhattan, wasn’t sure she’d get in, considering John Hopkins accepts just 11% of applicants. But when the selective university announced it was going “test-optional” and wouldn’t require SAT or ACT scores for applicants, Urgiles decided she’d take a chance. And she was far from the only one.
College applications soared for the 2021-22 school year as thousands of students took advantage of relaxed test score policies during COVID-19. America’s colleges, on average, experienced a jump in applications of at least 11% – including public, private and selective universities, plus historically Black colleges. That’s according to Common App, which provides a one-size-fits-all application to more than 900 colleges and universities.
At selective schools – where the acceptance rate is typically less than 50% – the spike was largest: Applications increased by an average of 21%.
