The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced on July 27 that the school will not require first-year applicants to submit their SAT and ACT scores through 2025.
The prestigious private research institution in Pasadena first announced a two-year moratorium on the requirements in June 2020, in a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jared Leadbetter, professor and chair of the school’s first-year admissions committee, said in a statement that faculty and staff already agreed two years ago that “numerous other key attributes of applications serve as stronger indicators of the potential for student success here.”
School officials said the decision to extend the moratorium was supported by internal analysis.
A study was conducted by faculty to analyze the academic performance of the last seven undergraduate first-year cohorts, which included students whose testing scores were reviewed in the admission process and those who applied after the moratorium took effect.
The study found that standardized test scores have “little to no power in predicting students’ performance in the first-term mathematics and physics classes” that are required for all freshmen by Caltech, according to the institute.
According to school officials, the extension will also help faculty members collect more data from students admitted during the moratorium and study the relationship between academic performance and standardized test scores.
“Caltech has a well-established holistic admission process in which all aspects of an applicant’s life and experiences are considered when assessing their preparation and potential performance in Caltech’s rigorous academic environment,” said Jarrid Whitney, Caltech’s assistant vice president for student affairs, enrollment, and career services.
However, its peer school, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced in March that it will reinstate the SAT and ACT requirement for future admissions.
The school has drawn an opposite conclusion as its research found that “standardized tests help us better assess the academic preparedness of all applicants, and also help us identify socioeconomically disadvantaged students.”
In addition to waiving standardized tests, Caltech also announced it is replacing its current Early Action program with Restrictive Early Action, a non-binding program commonly used by other universities.
The program allows some students who applied in a designated early period and were offered admission to have more time to consider other schools. The new model takes effect for students applying for the 2023–24 school year. Some early action programs are binding, meaning a student must attend that university if accepted.
“We believe moving to a restrictive early admissions process is responsive to our applicants’ desire to identify Caltech as their first choice while still giving them the flexibility to consider all financial aid packages,” Ashley Pallie, director of undergraduate admissions, said in a statement.
