As COVID-19 continues to have an effect on the educational environment and the college search process for graduating high school students, Virginia Tech will extend its test-optional policy for those seeking admission for the entering class of 2022.
The original decision to allow applicants to submit or omit their test scores stemmed from the challenges the testing agencies experienced in continuing to offer the tests during the pandemic. These challenges continue, and they disproportionately affect current high school juniors who will be applying for admissions starting in August 2021.
“Our team is focused on reducing hardships and eliminating barriers,” said Juan Espinoza, associate vice provost for enrollment management and director of Undergraduate Admissions. “Given the continued challenges around test availability and scheduling, we recognize that the struggles that affected the 2021 entering class will persist into the next cycle.
“It is our hope that this extension provides clarity for our future applicants as they plan for the upcoming application cycle.”
Test-optional policies have become a standard for nearly all of the nation’s most selective universities and liberal arts colleges. More than 900 institutions ranked in the top tiers of their respective categories by U.S. News & World Report do not currently require ACT or SAT scores and many have extended or made permanent their test optional policies. Virginia Tech joins public institutions across the state that have announced they will also continue test optional admissions for the 2021-22 cycle.
