Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

> Under test score optional policies, less advantaged applicants who are high achieving submit test scores at too low a rate, significantly reducing their admissions chances; such applicants increase their admissions probability by a factor of 3.6x (from 2.9 percent to 10.2 percent) when they report their scores. High achieving first-generation applicants raise admissions chances by 2.4x by reporting scores.

Wow it’s almost like the equity stuff is nonsense and that we should try to improve things by creating a rising tide that lifts all boats, than by trying to eliminate standards

(But since it can take some political difficulty to get policy that creates that rising tide and helps lift the bottom up, some people will insist that it’s unfair to have standards until we do that, even though the lack of standards probably hurts politically more broadly since a lot of parents actually want higher education standards)