What can we do to make the lives of our pandemically stressed-out high school juniors and seniors easier? It would be great if every college went test-optional forever. We can cancel test-crazy culture by not caring about test scores anymore. 

The ACT test does not rate your child as a person or as a potential college student. It doesn’t.

An ACT score reflects how well your child takes standardized tests, how much they studied for the ACT, and whether English is their first language. 

Suggest your high school student do the following:

• Take the ACT test once, don’t study for it, and be done with it.

• If you get a 29 on the ACT, good for you. If you get a 17, whatever.

• Use the test score when you apply to colleges if you want to—or not.

Early in the pandemic, I had a college advising client who opened my eyes. I asked her if she had taken any standardized tests or was planning on taking any. She said, “No.” I asked her if she wanted to think about it or take one to see how she did. She said, “No.” I was nervous. She was adamant.

She applied only to test-optional schools. She got accepted at seven of the eight colleges she applied to. She is a serious soccer player, takes PSEO college classes and AP classes, participates in her high school theater program, her college essay was fabulous, and she has a 3.8 GPA. In other words, her record is strong enough that if a college can’t decide she is a good candidate for admissions without an ACT score, she didn’t want to bother with them. Good for her. 

She showed me the way.

I can think of one good use of standardized tests for students: to help make a case for admission despite a less-than-stellar GPA. For example, when I worked in Admissions for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design we would occasionally have an applicant with a low GPA, but a high ACT score. Rather than simply rejecting the student outright, we would talk with the student, look at their portfolio, and read their essay and their letter of recommendation. That way, we could get a complete picture of the student. Often, the student just really didn’t like high school but was motivated to make art. In those cases, the ACT test wasn’t the main deciding factor, but it did reassure us that the student had the academic skills, like reading comprehension, they’d need to succeed in college. 

Test-optional. It’s the way to go now. 

My dream for the future? No testing at all. I would like us to take the millions we spend on testing and put that money towards counseling and planning for all high school students. The kind of counseling that I provide when parents pay me should be available for free to ALL students. I want to see us provide the type of counseling that supports kids, sees kids for who they are, and guides them toward what they love and where they will thrive—whether college, trade school or an apprenticeship—and gives them the financial resources to achieve their goals. 

We can stop the crazy. We can stop caring about standardized test scores.