To: The Wellesley College Community
From: T. Peaches Valdes, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid; and Courtney C. Coile, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Economics and Chair, Committee on Admission and Financial Aid
Re: Update on Wellesley’s test-optional admission policy
Date: May 1, 2024
As we prepare to welcome the class of 2028 to campus, and as the admission team has begun to recruit the class of 2029, we write to update you on Wellesley’s test-optional admission policy.
As you may recall, Wellesley has been operating under a test-optional admission policy for the last four application cycles. This policy was established in order to provide applicants with increased flexibility during the pandemic, and it was extended out of a concern for uneven access to testing, as well as a recognition that a majority of our peers were evaluating or continuing their test-optional practices.
After a thorough evaluation of data from the past four years, last fall Wellesley’s Committee on Admission and Financial Aid (CAFA) recommended extending the test-optional policy for a period of five years. Academic Council adopted this recommendation in December 2023, and it was subsequently endorsed by the board of trustees.
In making its recommendation, CAFA cited a number of reasons to support an extension of our current policy:
- All selective liberal arts colleges and most other peer institutions were continuing to operate under test-optional policies, which could make a testing requirement burdensome for prospective applicants to Wellesley.
- Surveys and focus groups conducted last year found little widespread support among Wellesley faculty and students for a return to required testing.
- Wellesley’s admission staff have demonstrated their ability to evaluate candidates who do not provide standardized test scores.
- The shift to the digital SAT and other factors add to an admission landscape of continued uncertainty regarding standardized testing.
Over the past few months, several universities have reinstated the requirement for standardized testing as part of the admission process. CAFA is monitoring these developments and will be conducting further analysis to better understand the effect of the test-optional policy at Wellesley in this shifting environment. As updates become available for future application cycles, we will communicate new information.
As always, testing is just one part of Wellesley’s holistic, committee-based application review process. We review each applicant thoughtfully and within the context of their available resources. Regardless of an applicant’s decision to submit test scores, the admission committee is particularly interested in an applicant’s demonstrated writing and quantitative skills as key predictors for academic success at Wellesley.
We would like to thank all who have helped assess the College’s admission policy over the past few years. In particular, we thank Akila Weerapana, professor of economics, and Hui Xiong, assistant provost for institutional research and assessment, for their analyses of the data pertaining to this issue, and the many students and faculty who participated in focus groups and surveys. Your invaluable insights have shaped our thinking on this topic and will continue to inform our work.
