The lose-lose decision on the SAT

Starting next year, Dartmouth College will reinstate its policy of requiring applicants to submit their SAT or ACT scores along with their admissions packages. It’s the first Ivy League school to do so, after many elite colleges and universities dropped the SAT requirement during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to a combination of student difficulties taking the test in the midst of lockdowns and longer-standing concerns that the test has reinforced racial and socioeconomic biases. Dartmouth isn’t the only school to take similar action. MIT and Georgetown have both brought back mandatory SAT or ACT scores, and other highly-selective colleges are reportedly considering the same.

A few things seem to be true at once: The SAT does reflect long-standing racial and economic inequalities, but getting rid of it may actually be worse for underprivileged students. And elite colleges may be eliminating the SAT requirement as much for self-preservation as student wellbeing.