ICYMI: Drew University No Longer Requiring SAT For Admissions

Standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are nearly synonymous with applying to college. Submission of either, however, is now optional when applying to Drew University.

The university said the faculty “overwhelmingly” supported the decision to remove the requirement for SAT and ACT scores, tests which are widely used for college admission criteria, when applying for admission to the university.

The new policy is effective immediately.

According to Drew University, Students who choose not to submit SAT or ACT scores should have at least a “B” average and rigorous college preparatory or honor curriculum according to their high school transcripts.

“Drew has and continues to attract high-caliber students who have completed a rigorous high school curriculum,” MaryAnn Baenninger, president of Drew University, said in a release from the school. “Those students are succeeding at Drew regardless of their SAT test scores, which do not always give an accurate assessment of their abilities. This decision to make the scores optional will give applicants the confidence to know that our university looks at the whole student in making our admissions decisions.”

The move to nix standardized test scores from admissions requirements follows a national trend, according to Drew. The university joins a number of other colleges and universities both in the region and across the country to make test scores optional, including Bowdoin College, Bates College, Wesleyan University, Franklin and Marshall College, Smith College, Colby College, Bryn Mawr College, Temple University and Brandeis University, Drew University said.

Additionally, students do not need to submit test scores when applying for the Dean’s Scholarships or need-based grants either. However, the standardized test scores are required for the university’s Baldwin Honors Scholarship and Presidential Scholarship programs.

“The relationship between grades and standardized test scores is not perfect,” Robert J. Massa, Drew’s senior vice president for enrollment and institutional planning, said in the release. “There are students with excellent high school grades taking top level courses but who have non-competitive standardized test scores. Drew welcomes those students and encourages them to apply.”