As a college counselor, many of my clients will ask me, “What is test optional? What is test blind? How do I know if I’m a good candidate at a certain university?” Let’s address a few of these questions, and I’ll keep posting some of my observations to this page as a regular feature on the website.

College admissions has certainly evolved over the last decade. Many variables have played a factor in this evolution, but none so much as the pandemic. Many students (and their parents), anxious not to have their student paying college tuition while working from their laptops on the family sofa, took a gap year two years ago — making last year’s admissions extremely difficult, because the prior year’s accepted students deferred their admission or simply sent in a new application.

UNC, for example, had a 21% increase in applications last year. Many other schools, possibly nervous about attendance, offered “test-optional” applications.

[Read more…]