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In mid June of this year the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California Berkeley released the results of a major study by researchers, Saul Geiser and Maria Veronica Santelices. The study, Validity of High-School Grades In Predicting Student Success Beyond The Freshman Year: High-School Record vs. Standardized Tests as Indicators of Four-Year College Outcomes analyzed the University of California's student database of 80,000 students. The findings propose that high-school grades in college-preparatory subjects are consistently the best indicator of how students are likely to perform in college.  

Unlike high school grades, standardized test scores in this study, showed a greater correlation with the socioeconomic status of the student and did not consistently predict college performance. One way to interpret this finding and research over the years is to conclude that standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT reflect student performance in a single, three-hour (now four-hour) sitting, usually in the middle of the junior year of high school and not a broader measure of overall achievement or intelligence. While such tests claim to tap generalized reasoning abilities thought to predict success in college, this intent is confounded by strategies employed by students aimed at boosting scores. This results in scores dependent upon learned test-wise strategies and private tutoring. Private tutoring and other strategies are more easily available to students from higher socioeconomic groups. This may form the basis for the finding that grades, not scores, are the better predictor of college performance. 

The results of the Berkeley study validate the efforts of the organization Fair Test. Fair Test is an educational group that seeks to decrease the role of standardized tests in college admissions because such tests discriminate against lower socioeconomic groups. Over 700 colleges and universities have signed onto to the philosophy of Fair Test and revised their admissions policies to become SAT and ACT optional. Colleges such as Goucher, Wheaton, Sarah Lawrence, Connecticut College, Bowdoin, Bates, College of the Holy Cross and Pitzer are now test optional schools. Some colleges have even stopped requesting board scores altogether.  

In my role as an educational consultant, my students frequently ask me if they should send their SAT scores to test optional colleges. My response depends upon the admissions statistics for admitted students from the previous year (the average SAT or ACT score and GPA) and their own board scores. Students should ask themselves: Will my test scores add or detract from my application? How do my test scores compare with last year admitted freshman class? What else can I send to support my application? In addition, the student should check with their school counselor to review the high schools admissions record with the college. If their scores fall into the below average range for the college of their choice, I will usually recommend that they select the option to not submit their scores. When this option is selected, the student must provide the required supplemental information ranging from a graded paper, interview, or the scores from AP exams or SAT subject tests. This general rule may not apply to all students and all test optional colleges. Each student's situation is unique student and there is not one rule that applies to all students.