Current:Home > NewsHarvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission -FundWay
Harvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission
View
Date:2025-04-15 00:55:08
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University announced Thursday that it is reinstituting standardized tests as a requirement for admission beginning with the class of 2029, joining other colleges that are again mandating tests for those hoping to enter the schools.
In June 2020, Harvard began a temporary test-optional policy under which students could apply to the college without submitting scores. The change was adopted as access to standardized testing during the pandemic became limited.
Other schools like Yale, Dartmouth, Brown and MIT are also again requiring standardized tests for those seeking admission.
Harvard had initially said it was going to maintain its test-optional policy through the entering class of the fall of 2026.
Under the change announced Thursday, students applying to Harvard for fall 2025 admission will be required to submit standardized test scores from the SAT or ACT exams to satisfy the testing component of the application.
In what the school called “exceptional cases” when applicants are unable to access SAT or ACT testing, other eligible tests will be accepted, including Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams.
School officials said test scores are weighed along with information about an applicant’s experiences, skills, talents, and contributions to their communities, as well as their academic qualifications in relation to the norms of their high school, and personal recommendations.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi Hoekstra said in a news release that standardized tests are a means for all students — regardless of background or life experience — to provide information that is predictive of success in college,
“In short, more information, especially such strongly predictive information, is valuable for identifying talent from across the socioeconomic range,” Hoekstra said.
The school said that all along it welcomed those seeking admission to submit test scores if they had them. Most of those accepted into the college during the past four years submitted test scores, according to the school.
The school also pointed to research that they said found that standardized tests are a valuable tool to identify promising students at less well-resourced high schools, particularly when paired with other academic credentials.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Watch this cowboy hurry up and wait in order to rescue a stranded calf on a frozen pond
- FTC tied up in legal battle, postpones new rule protecting consumers from dealership scams
- Soldiers find workshop used to make drone bombs, grenade launchers and fake military uniforms in Mexico
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Ancient sword with possible Viking origins and a mysterious inscription found in Polish river
- Nikki Haley has spent 20 years navigating Republican Party factions. Trump may make that impossible
- 13 students reported killed in an elementary school dorm fire in China’s Henan province
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- A century after Lenin’s death, the USSR’s founder seems to be an afterthought in modern Russia
Ranking
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Two British warships collided in a Middle East port. No one was injured but damaged was sustained
- Ohio is poised to become the 2nd state to restrict gender-affirming care for adults
- 37 Massachusetts communities to get disaster aid for last year’s flooding
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- A probe into a Guyana dormitory fire that killed 20 children finds a series of failures
- A Hindu temple built atop a razed mosque in India is helping Modi boost his political standing
- Do you know these famous Aquarius signs? 30 A-listers (and their birthdays)
Recommendation
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Aridity Could Dry Up Southwestern Mine Proposals
Trump’s attorney renews call for mistrial in defamation case brought by writer in sex-abuse case
A Hindu temple built atop a razed mosque in India is helping Modi boost his political standing
Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
49ers TE George Kittle makes 'wrestling seem cool,' WWE star Bayley says
Walmart managers to earn at least $128,000 a year in new salary program, company announces
What makes C.J. Stroud so uncommonly cool? How Texans QB sets himself apart with rare poise