Hello from New Orleans! It is the final week of travel for the PC Admission Staff and one of the most popular questions I have seen this fall is regarding our new test-optional policy. If you haven't heard, students will not be required to submit their SAT/ACT scores to receive full consideration for admission this year (and the next three under PC's four-year test-optional pilot program). So what does the test-optional policy mean for the admission review process this year?

First of all, it's important to realize that standardized test scores have never driven the admission process here at Providence College. Even in past years, when SAT/ACT scores were required, they were always the last piece of the application considered and were never a "make or break factor" in admission decisions. In our admission review, we find that a student's high school academic performance (the combination of their curriculum plus the grades received) is a much better indicator of success at PC than a standardized test score. Therefore, after over a year of study, the test-optional policy was put into place this summer. For more specific information on the policy, please follow this link: www.providence.edu/testoptionalpolicy.

The most popular question we have received regarding the policy--and the toughest for us to answer--is the question: "At what number should I submit my SAT or ACT scores?" Ahhh the magic number... I'll cut right to the chase- I am not going to give you a number in this posting. We really do not have a cutoff line where we discern a "good" SAT score from a "bad" SAT score. The best answer I can offer is this: If a student feels their test scores are an accurate representation of their academic ability, they should feel free to submit the scores. If however, a student feels the score is not representative, the student will not be penalized in the review process if SAT/ACT scores are not submitted.

It is also important to remember that if a student does choose to submit test scores, they will be considered but will not outweigh the high school academic performance.

Hopefully this information helps answer some of your test-optional policy questions (without causing more questions to arise!). The most important thing to remember is that the admission review process at PC is holistic and really focuses on the high school performance-- we want to invite students to PC who have "earned" a space in our freshman class through four years of continued high school success rather than having students "win" a space with one high test score. Please feel free to keep the questions coming!