Test Optional Colleges

One of the biggest worries parents have when sending their child to a learner-centered environment is how the child’s learning will translate to the higher education admissions process.

Public environments like Iowa BIG have created a unique system of assessment that backmaps their learning to traditional standards, ensuring they are met without having them be the guiding factor for all they experience. Alternatively, other environments that don’t need to answer to the state solely utilize portfolios of work, rather than traditional A-F transcripts. In both instances, the question of “but will my child be ready for the SAT/ACT?” remains valid. Although the answer is “yes,” as the knowledge, skills, and dispositions a young learner will gain will be robust, there is another fascinating option to explore—test optional colleges. In recent years, Niche and PrepScholar have been tracking hundreds of colleges and universities across the country that are more interested in who the learner is than the static test score they achieve. Be sure to keep this resource on hand for your young people and your parents when questions of “what about college?” come up.