These New Jersey Colleges Don’t Require SAT Scores For Applications

The sum of a student is more than their test scores. And the best predictor of success after high school is not necessarily the SAT exam, administrators at a New Jersey college say.

On Tuesday, Bloomfield College administrators announced that the school has approved a “test-optional” policy for its first-year applicants, which puts them in the company of a growing list of New Jersey universities and post-secondary schools that don’t require students to submit SAT/ACT test scores during the admissions process.

The new policy will start in the autumn of 2018, Bloomfield College administrators stated. Instead of SAT/ACT scores, students will be evaluated using factors such as:

• high school grade point averages
• “curriculum”
• recommendations
• writing skills
• college interviews

"Our internal data analysis and studies at other institutions have demonstrated that the best predictor of college success is applicants' high school performance and co-curricular involvement along with other demonstrations of motivation," Bloomfield College President Richard Levao said. “Our goal is to identify those capable of having a successful college career, rather than place barriers to admission in their path."

• See related article: SAT Scores For All N.J. High Schools Released: How Did Yours Do?

According to The National Center For Fair And Open Testing (FairTest), there are 10 post-secondary schools in New Jersey that don’t require students to submit SAT/ACT scores, although some may still ask for test scores for certain programs and scholarships, or if a minimum GPA and/or class rank isn’t met.

The list includes:

• Beth Medrash Govoha (Lakewood)
• Bloomfield College (Bloomfield)
• Drew University (Madison)
• Montclair State University (Montclair)
• Pillar College (Multiple Locations)
• Rabbinical College of America (Morristown)
• Rowan University (Glassboro)
• Saint Peter's University (Jersey City)
• Talmudical Academy of New Jersey (Adelphia)
• Thomas Edison State University (Trenton)

“Schools that have made standardized tests optional for admissions are widely pleased with the results,” FairTest states on its website. “Many report their applicant pools and enrolled classes have become more diverse without any loss in academic quality.”

According to FairTest:

“Colleges and universities that have moved away from using standardized tests to make admissions decisions have done so for a variety of reasons, but all have concerns about the impact of over-reliance on the tests. Some public universities have acted to deemphasize the SAT and ACT in the face of restrictions on affirmative action; a few are developing more flexible approaches to admissions in response to changes in the K-12 sector; many have found high school classroom performance to be a markedly superior way of forecasting academic success in college.”

Send feedback and news tips to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: Flickr Commons