Students applying to Le Moyne College will not need to take the SAT or ACT going forward. Le Moyne is one of the latest schools to go test-optional for admission.
The school plans to pay more attention to high school grades, outside activities, and leadership when considering new students. Le Moyne’s Chief Enrollment Strategist Don Saleh says testing does not tell the whole story.
“Students who are very good in high school sometimes are not good test-takers. And their scores don’t reflect how strong they are in the classroom, and they might opt to not apply to a school like Le Moyne because they think their scores are too low. We wanted to welcome those applicants into our pool and consider them for admission.”
Students not sending in their scores for admission, Saleh says, should make sure to highlight the things they do outside the classroom when applying. These may include work experience, helping your family, and other activities. Saleh adds standardized tests favor certain students.
“We’ve seen that there is a very strong socioeconomic bias to the tests that students from high-income families score better than students from low-income families. And, providing access to students across the socioeconomic spectrum is a value that we have. It reflects the Jesuit value of Le Moyne. It’s something that was important as we considered making the move.”
Still, Saleh says 75 percent of applicants will most likely keep sending their test scores going forward. He adds doing well on the SAT and ACT is something to be proud of. However, he also says there are students who do well in high school that earn bad test scores, which inhibits them from applying to better schools.
