Thread by @AndyBorstUofI

Should I send my ACT/SAT? I thought I would share some insights on this question in an attempt to add some transparency.

Submitting your test scores improves your chances of being admitted in the same way that eating more mozzarella improves your chances of earning a doctorate in civil engineering. The two may be related but not causal. Source: tylervigen.com/spurious-corre…

I'm going to attempt to show how flawed metrics of "who gets admitted" may lead you to an false conclusion. Cartoon by #xkcd

I wholeheartedly agree that colleges should be more transparent with their data, however, sharing some data (such as % test optional applied vs. admitted) ignores bias within the data. forbes.com/sites/brennanb…

In following that advice, and because @uofiadmissions admits by major, we've created a major explorer tool that has a great deal of admissions, cost, and outcome data by individual major: myillini.illinois.edu/Programs

Just comparing the percent who applied without test scores with the percent who were admitted without test scores ignores the selection bias of who elects to submit test scores.

If only students with strong test scores choose to submit scores, there is a non-random difference between those who self-select to submit test scores and those who choose to withhold test scores.

Look at this data from some competitive flagship universities. One might conclude that submitting a test score has a statistically significant impact on who gets admitted.

Georgia Tech: 37% applied/21% admitted
Virginia: 42% applied/28% admitted
UIUC: 44% applied/40% admitted

Now, let's look at UIUC admits by college. One might also conclude that test scores give an advantage to students applying to competitive majors in business and engineering.

However, the differences in admit rates between score senders disappear when we compare students with similar GPAs in core academic classes (i.e. English, math, language other than English, science, and social science).

So while it is tempting to conclude that sending or not sending test scores made the difference in admission decisions, it is really more about how students do in the classroom throughout four years of high school.

The advice we tell students is that if you are proud of your ACT/SAT, by all means, send it. If you're unsure, then we really don't need to see your scores in order to make an admission decision.

We still provide a 3-yr average of middle 50% by college with more information about how we review: admissions.illinois.edu/Apply/Freshman…

More data is usually better; however, more data without understanding the contextual underpinnings of the data can often lead to "experts" giving certain advice based on assumptions that may not be true.

So, rather than spending your time worrying about whether to send your ACT/SAT scores to the universities you're applying to, I just encourage you to eat more cheese.