When it comes to understanding the role standardized tests play in the college admissions process in California, Michal Kurlaender scores a 1600.
As chair of the UC Davis School of Education and co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education, she’s immersed in admissions analysis for all the state’s major university systems.
She recently co-authored a letter that blasted a recommendation to keep the SAT and ACT in the admissions process. She’s also the parent of a 10th grader and fascinated by a pandemic that has transformed debate into reality.
“It’s so ironic with this crisis,’’ Kurlaender said. “Here we are, trying to understand the role of testing in predicting educational outcomes, and now we have a natural experiment.
“The students don’t have the test that we were contemplating not using.”
And the result, for the moment, is panic.
The move by the University of California and California State University to temporarily suspend the SAT/ACT requirements and the spring shift to pass/fail grading in high schools have created upheaval in the looming admissions process for juniors.
Without tests and grades, how will the UC and CSU decide which students to accept for the fall of 2021?
What if an applicant who took the SAT prior to the pandemic is compared to an applicant with no test score?
Are there ways to improve transcripts during shelter in place?
“Pretty much everybody, to some extent, is completely in a panic,’’ said Irena Smith, a Peninsula-based college admissions consultant.
“In addition to having life disrupted, now there is no standardized test.”
The Bay Area News Group spoke to a handful of experts in the field of college admissions and asked for advice for high school juniors (and their parents).
Given the circumstances, what are the best steps for navigating the unprecedented application process that will commence in the fall in classrooms — or living rooms — across the Bay Area?
Don’t panic
Kurlaender works with data from the UC, CSU and the California Community College system.
Her view: Trust the process.
“There are active discussions about fairness,’’ she said. “There is an eye toward equity.”
The move to pass/fail grades for the spring semester in most major California school districts, she added, is only one slice of the GPA pie.
There are still three other data sets: two semesters from the applicant’s sophomore year and the first semester from the junior year. Three stellar semesters won’t be ruined by the move to pass/fail.
On the other hand, students who needed stellar grades in the spring to improve their chances could be out of luck.
Admissions officers will have to dig deeper into the transcript, and gain a better understanding of the student, than they might otherwise.
“Everything in 2020 will have a big asterisk for admissions officers,’’ said Smith, who spent several years in that role at Stanford. “They’re just as uncertain about how to react as all of us. Students need to think about the things you can control.”
Take the SAT, if possible
There is an important distinction when it comes to standardized tests in the admissions process for the state’s major four-year universities, according to experts.
The CSU announced in April that it has suspended the use of SAT/ACT scores “in determining admissions eligibility.” In other words, test scores won’t be considered.
The UC, on the other hand, has merely suspended the requirement that SAT/ACT scores be submitted. Put another way: UC applicants don’t have to include scores, but they have the option — and admissions officers would use the scores in their evaluation.
“If you don’t hear that it has been dropped, then you need to take it,’’ said Michelle Myers, who operates College Placement Advising in Walnut Creek. “When it says it’s recommended, that’s code for, ‘You better take it.’”
What if you take the test and score poorly?
“If you don’t do well,” Myers added, “then go case-by-case for which school works for you.”
At this point, the SAT is scheduled for four dates in the fall: Aug. 29, Oct. 3, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5, according to collegeboard.org.
However, the coronavirus disruption could make it difficult, if not impossible, for some applicants to take the fall versions.
The UC has addressed that matter on its website: “Campuses will adjust their internal processes accordingly to ensure that no student is harmed in admissions selection should they not submit a test score.”
Kurlaender isn’t a torchbearer for the SAT/ACT. In fact, she has advocated that California switch to the Smarter Balanced tests, which are considered more equitable for disadvantaged students.
And yet, she doesn’t believe the absence of a standardized test score will make or break an application “on its own” for current juniors.
Kurlaender pointed to the so-called comprehensive review process, in which standardized tests are just one of 14 factors considered by the UC. The weight assigned to each factor varies by the campus.
Admissions officers, Kurlaender added, “will account for the instability in people’s lives.
“Understanding the student within the high school context of what’s available is more important than ever because of the huge difference in how school districts are supporting students online.”
The CSU’s decision to suspend the use of standardized tests is more worrisome, she said, “because they have larger numbers and more of a computational decision.”
Go online and go local
Many four-year universities offer online classes that are available for high school students.
One of Myers’ clients, in fact, found an engineering class from a prestigious school on the East Coast for a mere $5,000.
Myers rejected the idea: Totally unnecessary — and potentially destructive to her client’s transcript.
Instead, she is advising juniors to take online classes from community colleges around the Bay Area.
“You should do what you can to manufacture grades,’’ said Myers, who has a graduate certificate in college advising from UC Berkeley.
“What else are you going to do this summer?”
But there’s a catch: Make sure the credits are transferable to the UC or the CSU. (The online description of the class will indicate as much.)
“Don’t take something like coding or pre-Calculus,’’ Myers said. “This isn’t the time to be creative. This is about making good grades.
“If you’re not getting a B or better, drop it. If you do well, it gives you a GPA bump, and you can bring the units with you.”
The benefits of online classes through a community college extend beyond the grade itself.
“The experience with college classes will serve you well,’’ Kurlaender said, “and the initiative shows well to admissions departments.”
Be creative
Within the pandemic, there is opportunity for juniors to impress admissions officers outside the realm of grades and test scores.
“Find productive ways to enhance your resume,” Kurlaender said. “What are you doing in the absence of a swim meet or a concert? How can you creatively pursue that?”
Smith said one of her clients has performed violin concerts for neighbors — from the front yard.
Another, who loves photography, is attempting to capture the quarantine in pictures.
Find ways to deliver food to those in need.
Offer virtual babysitting services.
“There are definitely things you can do, just not the things people are used to seeing,” Smith said. “And the solutions might be closer than you think.”
Attempt to develop expertise, the experts said, whether it’s an uncharted field of study or an area of longstanding interest.
It could be a foreign language or anime.
It could be cooking or the history of pandemics.
“This is a time for creativity,’’ Kurlaender said. “Admissions people care about that.”
Oh, and one more suggestion:
“Read a book,” Myers said, “not your phone.”
Blast it out
Whatever students accomplish in the absence of traditional pursuits, they should make sure to include it on the application.
“One of the biggest mistakes kids make,’’ Myers said, “is not giving themselves enough credit for what they’ve done.
“And if there was anything you were planning to do and it got canceled, make sure you put that on the application. Write: ‘Canceled due to Covid-19.’”
All three experts urged students to keep perspective:
The application process for the fall of 2021 has veered wildly off course for everyone, including — especially — the admissions officers themselves.
The system has no choice but to adjust.
“Other aspects of the application that haven’t gotten a lot of attention are going to get more, particularly the extracurriculars and the essays,” Smith said.
“Schools will want to know, ‘What are kids doing with their lives that’s meaningful?’”
