Cal Poly, CSU won’t require SAT or ACT scores for fall applications

The California State University will temporarily suspend requiring the SAT and ACT exams to apply for admissions at its 23 campuses, including Cal Poly.

The decision came after the College Board canceled SAT exam dates in the spring as stay-at-home orders were enforced throughout the country and world in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The change in admissions requirements only applies to fall 2021, winter 2022 and spring 2022 admission cycles. The decision follows a similar move by the University of California system.

“The California State University has provided access to a high-quality education for millions of Californians from all walks of life, and we will continue to fulfill our academic mission even during these most trying of times,” CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White said in a statement. “This temporary change will ensure equitable access to the university, and should provide some measure of relief to prospective students and their families.”

Each CSU campus will use several factors to evaluate admissions including GPA and extracurricular activities.

Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier said that even though the university will not use the standardized test scores in the admissions process, it still is advising students to submit them.

“For 2021, the university will modify its comprehensive review and, even though we won’t require test scores, we will strongly encourage those who have them to send them to us for diagnostic placement purposes,” Lazier said in an email to The Tribune.

The CSU said programs with more applicants than available spaces such as psychology, criminal justice and biological sciences may require higher GPAs for admissions.

The College Board, which administers the SAT, announced on Wednesday that students will have many more opportunities to take the exam in the fall, before college applications are due. They also floated the idea that the exam can be administered online, at home.

“As with at-home AP Exams, the College Board would ensure that at-home SAT testing is simple; secure and fair; accessible to all; and valid for use in college admissions,” read a press release from College Board. “Like the pencil-and-paper test, a digital, remote version of the SAT would measure what students are learning in school and what they need to know to be successful in college.”

Cal Poly, which is holding classes remotely for spring quarter, also announced this month that distance learning would continue for summer quarter as well.

On Friday, the university launched its Virtual Open House at www.calpoly.edu/virtual-open-house, offering a variety of online sessions for newly admitted or waitlisted students.