Skidmore adopts test-optional admissions policy

Skidmore College will adopt a test-optional admissions policy beginning with the Class of 2021—those students applying for enrollment in the next academic year—according to an announcement by Mary Lou Bates, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid.

The announcement follows a lengthy study by Skidmore's Enrollment Management Group made up of cross-campus representatives. In accepting the recommendation of the group, Bates said, the College will no longer require scores from standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT. In the future, Skidmore will broaden its application process to help applicants submit examples of their creative work along with traditional application materials.

Test-optional will apply to all applicants except the following: international students who have not studied in an English-speaking curriculum for at least three years, students who have been homeschooled, and students from schools providing evaluative summaries in lieu of grades.

"We've found that our admissions evaluations are more predictive of academic achievement and retention at Skidmore than are standardized test scores," said Bates. She added, "We believe that a test-optional policy aligns more closely with our commitment to wider access, responds to growing concern over the stress of the college admissions process, and mitigates the advantages of pre-test coaching that some applicants may have over others."

Skidmore's test-optional decision puts it among more than 850 four-year colleges and universities, including 46 percent of selective and highly selective liberal arts colleges, that have the same policy.

During the recently completed admissions cycle for the Class of 2020, Skidmore received 9,150 applications—the most in its history—from students across the U.S. and the world.