byAndrew Flagel, Dean of Admissions and Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Development, George Mason University

As simple as the question sounds, it’s hard to answer.

As I wrote in the last couple of posts, by and large your test scores are FAR less important than your overall academic records. They do count, however, and usually a lot more than most of the noncognitive factors (essays, recommendations, leadership, etc). Even so, there are a lot of cases where a low score won’t be detriment at all.

To start, keep in mind that there are LOTS of colleges and universities. A low score in one college’s admission process may be pretty high at another, so don’t just assume that your scores are awful becuase your friend Johnny Testtaker is in the 99th percentile. On the other hand, maybe your scores really are in the sumpster, in which case you may want to consider a place that won’t consider your scores.

There are basically three types of institutions that won’t consider your scores:

• Open enrollment schools that accept anyone with a high school diploma or the equivalent -- This includes most community colleges and quite a few four-year public schools.
• Competitive schools that just don’t use scores ever -- These are pretty hard to find.
• Competitive schools that offer a score optional process.

A colleague at one of the score-optional institutions (I think it was Mike Sexton at Lewis and Clark) suggested that you should consider score-optional programs if you feel your score is not reflective of your past work, and/or predictive of your future work.

It is rare that a student would be considered a reasonable candidate for score-optional admission if their academic record isn’t very strong. In addition, at Mason (did I mention we are the largest competitive institution in the U.S. to offer a score-optional admission process?), we add more weight to the noncognitive factors, especially looking for evidence of leadership and motivation. You can get the details on our program on our score optional admissions page.

You can find lots of other score-optional institutions through the Fairtest website, but bear in mind that not all of the schools they list as score-optional offer a fully score-optional admission process. I know that’s confusing, but it’s a reminder to carefully check the policies at any school where you plan to apply.

So, one more reason not to stress about the tests -- they just might not make that big a difference, and you could decide to just ignore them completely! Be seeing you.

P.S. - even as I wrote this post, the Richmond Times Dispatch was printing this story about an increase in ACT test takers in Virginia that mentions Mason’s score optional program. By way of full disclosure, I’m on the executive council for ACT in Virginia and for the DC/Maryland region.

Read more expert advice from Dean Flagel.