SMU Waives ACT/SAT Score Requirements For Admission Next Year Due To Coronavirus
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Students applying to SMU for Spring 2021 or the following Fall 2021 do not have to submit ACT or SAT scores for undergraduate admission and scholarship consideration, the University announced Friday.
The University's undergraduate admission office is adopting a temporary test-optional policy for one year to relieve student concerns about testing as they apply to college during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Test-optional admission allows a high school senior to decide if submitting their standardized test scores will accurately reflect their academic achievement.
Since states and cities began issuing stay-in-place orders in March, administrations of both ACT and SAT tests have been cancelled or postponed.
"This disruption in standardized testing affects all students, some more than others – students we would very much like to have come to SMU. If we can ease their minds about their inability to take the ACT or SAT, we should do so," said Elena Hicks, SMU's Dean of Admission.
The decision followed a campus-wide discussion with faculty and administrators who endorsed the plan, and is consistent with changes at many institutions similar to SMU.
Students may still submit ACT or SAT scores if they wish to do so, Hicks stressed.
SMU explained its Admission Committee "strives to identify talented students with a record of high academic and personal achievement."
Students submit for consideration their high school transcript, a personal essay, letters of recommendation and a record of what they have accomplished outside the classroom.
These will be even more important for students who choose not to submit SAT or ACT scores with their application, the University said.
"Test-optional admission is not easier admission," explained Wes Waggoner, SMU's associate vice president for enrollment management. "SMU will still look for students who have excelled in high school - and who will excel at SMU. Our motto, 'World Changers Shaped Here,' still applies."
Test scores will also be optional for SMU scholarship consideration.
