Gustavus Admission Test Optional Update

Gustavus is in good stead with its decision in May to adopt a test-optional admission practice. This fall two more national liberal arts colleges, Gettysburg College and Union College, joined the growing list of top schools nationwide to make SAT and ACT test scores optional for high school seniors who apply for admission. There are now 27 schools from the U.S. News and World Report’s 100 Best Liberal Arts Colleges list that have test-optional admission policies. Other schools include Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton, Bates, Mount Holyoke, College of the Holy Cross, Connecticut, Bard, Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, and Sarah Lawrence. Click Test Optional to read more about the Gustavus decision. Based on research, the best predictor of performance during a student’s first year in college is their high school coursework and GPA. So far this year, application numbers are up at Gustavus and 13 percent have opted not to submit test scores.