#142 SAT, ACT, and Test-Optional Admissions: What Parents Need to Know with David Blobaum Transcript

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT… PLEASE FORGIVE THE TYPOS & GRAMMAR! xo-Lisa.

Lisa Marker Robbins 01:03

Standardized testing in college admissions has never been more confusing, especially with test optional policies at the majority of schools, parents often wonder whether SAT and ACT scores still matter, and whether they can trust that test optional colleges truly don’t expect strong scores. Understanding how colleges actually use these scores can make a difference in guiding your team’s testing and their admissions chances. David blobomb, co owner of Summit prep and a national test prep Association board member, is here to explain the role of standardized tests in admissions. He’ll shed light on how great inflation impacts your teen’s a average and what it means for testing and the latest policies on everything from the AC, T and sat to AP exams. You’ll gain clarity on admissions advantages, scholarships and how much weight to place on test prep, as David breaks it all down, whether you’re navigating test optional schools or simply looking for guidance, this conversation will provide the insights you need to support your team. I’m Lisa marker Robbins, and I want to welcome you to College and Career Clarity, a flourish coaching production. Let’s dive right in to a great conversation.

Lisa Marker Robbins 02:27

David blowbomb, welcome back. I mean faithful listeners all know you. It’s your third time here. Welcome

David Blobaum 02:35

Thank you. It’s great to be back.

Lisa Marker Robbins 02:37

Well, you always are representing the the testing, the A, C, T, S, a t test prep side of things, that’s been kind of the voice you had back in episode 100 where we had a panel that really pulled apart the what the Nash, the NACAC tells us is going On in colleges and you own a test prep company in New Jersey, and for the National Test Prep Association, which you’ll probably have to briefly tell our listeners what that is, you fulfill a role called outreach. And every time I hear that, my brain goes, Why does test Why does test prep need outreach and advocacy? Like, isn’t it? It just feels like it’s kind of, I don’t know. Are you selling us test prep? Are does it need your help? And so I actually want to start there before we unpack where testing policies stand in college admissions right now, because there’s a lot to update on. But like, I don’t know. I want to kind of hold your feet to the fire and say, like, Why does test prep need your help or your outreach or your advocating for it? Great

David Blobaum 03:58

question. So it’s a good clarification. I wouldn’t say that test prep needs my help. I would say that parents need our help. So when we look, for instance, at what grades mean these days, we see that grade inflation has never been higher. So we see in 1966 according to UCLA Higher Education Research Institute, it was about 20% of students had a averages who were going into four year ba granting universities, so 80% didn’t have a averages. When we look at the data for 2023 it’s not normed and weighted, so it’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison, but it was 86% had a averages. So only about 14% of those students going into the BA granting universities didn’t have a averages in high school, even if you look at the last time it was normed and weighted, which was in 2019 that was at 68% so somewhere between 68% and 86% of students going into four year BA. Granting universities have a averages, that means majority of students have a averages. A doesn’t mean what it used to mean. It means average these days. So we’re helping parents understand what grades mean. And then what can you learn from test scores? Because so often parents think I have a great student, bad test taker. That’s not typically the case, which we can explain more to.

Lisa Marker Robbins 05:24

Okay, so that I mean, and I’m thinking back, I’m an empty nester. Now, my kids are all in their early to mid 20s, and I do you know they graduated actually before covid, and I know that’s a factor in this great inflation, but it was on the increase long before that, as you said, so when a parent says to us, my so you’re I think what you’re saying is like, when my when a parent goes like, my kids are good. They’ve got an A average, they’ve got a 3.7 or a 3.6 GPA. They’re probably downplaying the role that testing goes because they’re are they having too much faith in the A opening the doors? Is that what you’re saying

David Blobaum 06:13

exactly? And I mean, it is pretty I mean, I talked to a lot of families interested in Test Prep. So just about every day, I have a family that says My child is a good student, bad test taker, right? So we then we dive into that. Well, what does good student mean? Good student means they have an A average in honors classes. What is their test score, and 18 on the the A CT. Now they’re shocked by this, and they blame the A CT for this, and it’s completely understandable why they would blame the A CT for this, because for 11 years, their child has been getting A’s in classes and now is in honors classes in high school. Can

Lisa Marker Robbins 06:53

I ask real quick question there, when you say an 18 on the A CT, and my listeners know I know the answer to this question, but I want you to give it because this is your lane where I’m my lane is college, majors and careers. What percentile is an 18 out of the 36 on the AC t?

David Blobaum 07:15

So great clarification, according to the latest percentiles put out by the AC T, and 18 is the 50th percentile of test takers. So it actually used to be just over 20, and it has dropped every single year since covid. So we were literally a CT scores have never, ever been this low since they started being recorded. So I mean, last year was 19.5 and now, according to the latest percentiles, the AC t put out, it’s an 18. So wow, which is insane, right? And so, I mean, I’m in northeast New Jersey, where there are a lot of very high expectations. So when parents are seeing okay, my child has a 3.7 GPA honors classes. In their minds, they’re expecting a 30 on the AC T they’re expecting the 93rd percentile. Their kids are in the top 7% because, you know, straight A’s in honors classes. If you look back 60 years, that meant probably you’re in the top 10% or 20% parents have simply never been informed that there has been massive, massive grade inflation, and grades don’t mean what they used to. And so where families are seeing a huge mismatch between a child’s grades and their test scores, we are seeing no mismatch at all, because we would expect that average student. The average student is in honors classes, getting A’s. We expect that student to get an 18 on the AC T, at least to be starting there, because that’s the average test score.

Lisa Marker Robbins 08:53

Well, that makes sense. I mean, I think back to I went to high school in the 80s. I hate to admit that, but truly, a C was average. It felt like, I don’t know, you could tell me, because you have all the data, but a C felt like, in 1986 like an average grade. So the parents of of today’s teens probably were in high school in the 90s, and so you’re saying like, hey, even, even when you were in the 90s, while grade inflation had started, the average grade might still have been like a C plus or a b minus. So your kids a does not equal the a that you got. So parents actually can tell their kids are smarter than their kids are right.

David Blobaum 09:41

No comment on this. Comment on I’m starting

Lisa Marker Robbins 09:43

family conflict, okay? And you’re a new dad with a little infant, and you’re like, Lisa, don’t stir the pot between parents.

David Blobaum 09:51

Enough teen parent converts, right? You’re like,

Lisa Marker Robbins 09:54

don’t create more. Okay? So we won’t go there. But parents, if you had all A’s, you need. Your kid has lower grades, there’s an argument to be made, but probably in the best interest of the relationship, don’t make it okay. So I guess what I want to know, though, is, if the majority of colleges, this is where they I think my question on the outreach and the advocacy maybe really goes to because that makes sense. Like your starting point of, like, parents don’t know what they don’t know, and certainly the kids don’t on this topic. But if the majority of colleges are test optional, then why do we need to outreach and advocate anyway? Like, why does it matter? Then who cares if the 95 GPA average is getting an 18, or maybe even, maybe they’re great. Maybe they’re even getting a 20. They’re a little bit above average. Why does it matter if colleges aren’t accepting or aren’t requiring tests? Great

David Blobaum 10:54

question. So Well, just taking on, if I may, yeah, the role of helping parents first, because then, after we cover that, then we really get to the the colleges. So the first thing that we help parents understand is the meaning or lack of meaning of grades, right, and the grade inflation. But grade inflation is really only half of the problem when parents are trying to understand the gap between grades and test scores. The second and I would say equally large problem, is that, just like you were talking about, parents grew up with a certain understanding of what a grade meant, parents grew up honestly being fed certain lies about testing. And so a lot of those very large testing companies had brilliant but false advertising campaigns that said the SAT only tests you on the SAT. Hey, come learn the tips and tricks that only we can teach you. And really, these tests are gameable and they’re meaningless. And so it’s a two fold problem for parents these days where they think that grades are the ones that are meaningful, but actually those have become meaningless, and not completely. But, you know, yeah, less meaningful test scores they have been told were meaningless and gameable. It’s actually the reverse, and part of it also might be that the SAT and a CT have dramatically changed in the last few decades. So let’s just say the tests were gameable. Then I would argue that they weren’t, but they’re certainly not gameable now. And so how do we know that they’re actually valid measures? Well, we know that they’re valid measures because the data that’s coming out says that test scores are more predictive of a success in college than our grades, not just helpful and predictive, but actually more predictive than grades, which is kind of wild. So I mean, it’s Harvard, it’s Cornell, it’s Dartmouth, it’s Yale. They have all said that test scores sat and ECT, scores are more predictive than a student’s high school grades.

Lisa Marker Robbins 13:08

Well, that makes me think of so I’m in Cincinnati, Ohio, as you obviously know, but maybe our listeners do and Ohio State, or the Ohio State, I always mock them for that. And Columbus, that’s our state flagship university, and it’s been interesting since they were like, really late to the game of dropping the test score requirement in 2020 they didn’t announce that they were going to be test optional in 2020 until late June. So they were very late to the dropping going test optional because of covid, and it was necessary we get it because of covid, you couldn’t even sit in a room and take a test. They still, right now, are at least through another year, but their website has said Since 2020 while we are test optional, I almost have this down verbatim, somebody can check me because I’m I’ll be pretty close to exact. While we’re test optional, the Ohio State University does see test scores as predictive of who is successful. At our university, students are encouraged to test if they’re able. And so that’s always, I mean, you’re kind of hitting on the doubts that I always have around Ohio State. It’s literally on their website, and it’s like you just told us we don’t have to, but yet you’re strongly suggesting that you’ll know if we’re going to be successful at your university with our test scores. And I don’t see a similar statement around grades, but obviously grades aren’t optional, so, but I think it leans into what you’re saying,

David Blobaum 14:45

yeah, and my, my favorite example of that is Emory. So Emory is test optional. The dean of admissions, John ladding has said, and this is a near quote, um. Quite frankly, we’re not as trusting of GPA. Our office will weight external assessments more heavily than a student’s high school grades, especially using AP exam scores. So that’s a test optional University saying that test scores are more important in the admissions process than a student’s high school grades. Wow. So I think it’s we really need to understand. What do grades mean? What does a test score mean? What do colleges mean by test optional? Because yes, there are, you know, schools that are like, I would say truly test optional, but they’ll all say that. But to me, truly test optional means they essentially don’t care about your test score. But if they essentially don’t care about your test score, I’m not sure that those schools would necessarily be your first choice if they truly don’t care about your test score, because what they’re saying is they’re saying we don’t we truly don’t care about the most predictive factor of academic preparedness and then academic success at our institution. So that’s paying a lot of money for a school that’s not putting education. And again, college is a school. It’s not just an experience. At least, I think, you know, we should prioritize the education. So you’re then going to a school and paying a lot of money to a school. It’s not prioritizing your education.

Lisa Marker Robbins 16:19

Okay, so let me ask you a question on that, so you would say, okay, don’t trust those schools as much. I mean, they could be saying that we’ve looked at our data and we don’t see them as being important, but or as predictive as maybe, like some of the schools that you and I both just mentioned that come right out and say, like, we find them to be predictive scores, right? If you’re all about supporting parents, then how would you advise a parent to do like you just said, yeah, they’re all going to say, we’re truly test optional, and you’re saying for most of those smoke and mirrors, no, they’re not. Yeah, and there are some that really are, truly test optional. So if you’re all about supporting parents, how do you advise parents to know or to discern, how do you even discern who’s truly test optional and who’s not, or who’s saying it, but they’re giving you a bunch of smoke and mirrors like it feels like the water’s so muddy, how do you know what to

David Blobaum 17:22

do? Man, great question. So the first place that I would head if I was a parent, is type in the school’s name and then the words common data set. So, and then go to the section C. I think it’s c9 actually, is,

Lisa Marker Robbins 17:37

sadly, I have, I actually have a video on our flourishcoachingco.com website, if you go to the Resources tab and it shows a parent how to get to the common data set and how to get to set C, which, as you and I know, has all of the gold in it. But continue. So go. We’ll link that resource in the show notes. But flourishcoachingco.com go to the Resources page. You’ll be able to find it, but

David Blobaum 18:03

go ahead, perfect. Yes. So in that, it shows the percentage of enrolled students who submitted both an S A T and an A C T score. So you can kind of see from that, like, if 10% of enrolled students submitted an S A T OR A C T score, they don’t really care about test scores, but also their admit rate is probably like 80% right? So they’re really, not really being very discerning about who they let in. So high admit rate usually means low sat, AC, T, submitter rate as well. But also just some things to for parents to keep in mind. So for instance, I’ll take Boston College, because I just listened to a podcast on them and I’ve talked to their dean of admissions, and they’ll say that about 60% of the students who who apply applied without test scores. They will then tell you that about 60% of accepted students had a test score, and then about 50% who enrolled had a test score. That’s very hard for a lot of parents to understand, so I just want to break down a couple pieces of that. So that means a majority are applying without test scores. But then when you look at the subset of students who are actually admitted, a majority submitted test scores. When you actually do the math on that, it’s a it’s you essentially 3x your chances of admission with if you submitted test scores. But then it’s not that 60% admitted, so 60% admitted had test scores, but then only 50% enrolled had test scores. Well, why the drop, then to the common data set where you see the percentage of enrolled is because students who submitted test scores are less likely to actually enroll at BC. So BC is less likely to yield those students because those students who submitted test scores are typically submitting really good test scores. They. Typically have lots of options, so BC actually wants them more. That’s why they’re admitting them at a higher rate. But then fewer of those students actually enroll, and basically every student who applies without test scores to BC and gets in is going to want to enroll because they’re getting into probably a better school than they otherwise would have. So just some things for parents to keep in mind, the difference between applying with an without test scores, getting accepted within without test scores, and then who’s actually enrolling. So the takeaway is, when you look at that common data set of enrolled students who submitted test scores, the accepted percentage is always, you know, maybe 10 to 20% higher. They just weren’t yielding those students at the same rate. So you’re not quite seeing from the Enrolled percentage truly the the fullness of the preference for students with good test scores. Okay,

Lisa Marker Robbins 20:55

but you’ve looked at enough colleges and universities at this point that you’re able to say this is a trend that we really see, and they can arm chair quarterback at themselves and go and try to dig up the data, and some colleges are more forthcoming with their data than others, as we know. I mean, I’m always looking at data around admission to specific majors with the work that I do as a college major and career coach, and I’ll see the same thing. Like, okay, you say that you’re not that competitive. But like, if I can find the data for some schools, there are certain oversubscribed majors that we see the same thing. So you can either dig around, or you’ve done a lot of this leg work, and you’re saying, okay, at at your summit prep, at the National Test Prep Association, you find this to be a trend.

David Blobaum 21:50

Yes. So to your point, most schools don’t, the vast, vast majority of schools don’t release this data. It’s just 100% of schools that do release the data show that trend. So I mean, I would make the, what I think fair assumption, is that this trend is universal, because every single school that releases it shows it, if a school wants to say, Hey, that’s not true for us, we don’t accept, you know, at a higher rate and with good test scores. All right, I would love to see that data, but there has never been one school that released that data that didn’t show so

Lisa Marker Robbins 22:26

I just heard a challenge to universities and colleges make the claim. David said, Show me your data and you want to see the exceptions, because you’ve not seen it to be true yet. So I have another question for you. I heard you with the let’s go back to the Emory policy. That seems to me to be more of a test, flexible policy than a test, optional policy. And I know like before, Purdue went back to requiring test scores couple years ago, they had kind of a test flexible statement. They say, you know, we, we, while we’re test optional, we do prefer to have test scores. Emory’s saying, while we’re test optional, we place a high value on test scores. But they’re saying it doesn’t necessarily have to be a CT or SAT, it could be AP. It could be, I’m going to assume IB as well. Yes, right. So What place does that, AP, IB scores hold in this narrative and this landscape that we’re looking at,

David Blobaum 23:34

a surprisingly growing presence in the college admissions landscape, which I personally think it’s unfortunate because AP exam scores used to only be used for course College, course credit and sometimes college placement, and I think that’s the appropriate role for them, because they’re only graded on a scale of five. So one question be the differentiator for a student between getting a four and getting a five. A four and five look very different, so it just doesn’t have the precision in the grading to be able to differentiate between that student who mystified by one question, for instance. So I don’t think they should be used for admissions purposes, but the College Board discontinued the use of SAT Subject Tests. Those had a lot of precision in scores. They were graded on on a scale of 800 in the absence of SAT Subject Tests, and especially if a school wants to be like test flexible, they’re using AP exam scores more in admissions. So Yale has said in their podcast that if you have AP classes on your transcript, they’re going to wonder why you didn’t submit AP exam scores for those AP classes. So essentially, they’re saying, if you took an AP class, we want to see the AP exam score for that as well. And I think the most telling and well, I’ll just say telling. I. Schools are the UC schools, the University of California schools. So they are, quote, unquote, they don’t call themselves test blind. They call themselves test free no matter what. But either way you call it, they’re not test free. They use AP and IB exam scores in their admissions process.

Lisa Marker Robbins 25:16

Let’s go back for a second, because I think a lot I find that a lot of my listeners have you know, freshmen, sophomore, you know we’re at the beginning of the school year right now, and they’re not far enough into this college bound journey that they understand all of these labels and nuances that you and I are up close and personal with. So let’s go back and define test free, which is I mean Tomato, tomato test blind. So can you give a working definition for that?

David Blobaum 25:49

Yes. So despite the name, it does not mean test blind or test free. It means S A T, A C T blind or S A T, A C T free. So

Lisa Marker Robbins 26:00

if a kid applies to the University of California system, even if they say yes, please send my scores there. The UCS have said, we’re not going to look at those a CT or SAT scores, precisely Yes, however. And now, what’s the API b part,

David Blobaum 26:21

the however is if you want to get into UCLA or UC Berkeley, you better be submitting AP or IB exam scores if your high school offered AP and or IB classes. So they even say that they on UC Berkeley’s admissions website, not the general UC College System website, but the UC Berkeley admissions website, they say they use AP exam scores, and again, you know, their admissions representatives on podcasts say they look for AP and IB exam scores. So it really irks me that they call themselves test free when they’re far from test free. They’re just S, A, T, E, C, E, T, free.

Lisa Marker Robbins 27:02

Okay, so I needed to challenge you on this stuff, because I’m like, the outreach advocacy thing always has been a question in my mind, so I’m glad to hear the heart behind of that is really more about supporting overwhelming, confused parents and these nuances. So let’s get into like for somebody who’s navigating this, whether they have a senior applying right now or they have a sophomore junior, and this is going to be well, I’m sure we’ll be having you back on to help us get another update on this topic. But let’s go back then and educate everybody on like, what are the categories and where do things stand right now for the class of 2025 who will be graduating in the spring, as far as testing requirements and what do you can we expect it to be the same for the class of 2627 that are currently in high school right now.

David Blobaum 28:02

Great question. Can I interject one thing? Yeah, of course. The last thing I would say to help parents is the help them understand the why are sat and ATT scores or AP exam scores helpful and predictive? Because there’s still that, like, I think a a lack of connection between how can a How can a two or three hour exam be more predictive than three years of a student’s high school? GPA, well, it’s not just grade inflation that has eroded the value of most students. GPAs, it’s also a fundamental misunderstanding of what parents and students understand about the s, a T and a C, T. So the reason these tests are so predictive is they’re not testing you on random knowledge and skills. They’re testing you on the most important knowledge and skills that are proven to be necessary for success in higher education. So that’s rhetorical skills, like, can you make a good argument? That’s grammar, which is about communication and writing, it’s the basics of mathematics and reading and data analysis. So parents should really take those scores seriously, because it’s not by accident. It’s not it shouldn’t be confusing that these scores are so predictive. But to your point about you know, what are colleges currently doing? What can we see in the future. So over 120 colleges have gone back to requiring test scores and admissions. So there’s a lot of you know, high high profile names on that, Yale Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, surprisingly, ended their moratorium on testing early to go back to test required early. That caught people by surprise. So

Lisa Marker Robbins 29:40

that meant that they said, like, hey, we’ll still be test optional for the class of 2025 and then they said, oops, no, we can’t do that. We’re going to roll it back. You guys actually do have to take I feel sorry for Harvard interested kids and the class of 25 because they might have thought they were dealing with one thing, and now they’ve got a whole new set of rules. Exactly.

David Blobaum 30:00

I mean, it was whiplash for those students. It was also whiplash for other universities, who, I think, were saying, Well, we’re going to maybe end our test optional experiment. When Harvard does, and all of a sudden, Harvard, out of nowhere, announces their ending, theirs early. And Caltech was very outspoken about we don’t need S, A, T, E, C, T, scores. Caltech called itself test blind, saying We won’t even look at your s, a T, A C, T, scores. They out of nowhere, you know, with no advanced warning, went from test blind not to test optional, but to test required, which is pretty shocking, to go from test to test required, one into

Lisa Marker Robbins 30:36

the continuum to the other. I mean, what it what it really makes me think with these categories of So, I mean, our categories are test required, so you have to have them. You’ve named some of them. They aren’t all the ivy plus schools, though. I mean, Purdue. I mentioned Purdue earlier, had gone back University of Tennessee, had returned, Florida, never left. So we’ve got that. And there’s a lot of public schools down there, so we’ve got that test required. Group that is growing. 120 schools have gone back to requiring scores. We’ve got the test optional, and then we’ve got the test blind, test free, which obviously you’ve made a doubter out of me on that one. But what it I think the Harvard example is what’s most disturbing to me. And I did not realize that it was like I knew Harvard had gone back to requiring test scores. Did not realize that they had basically made a promise and reneged on their promise and said no, just kidding. Now you have to have them in that and I’m thinking like as I’ve worked for over 30 years supporting teens and their parents that are college bound. It’s like, how do you even navigate that? So I think I know what your best advice is for all families in light of that. And so what would your best advice be?

David Blobaum 31:58

My best advice would be try and learn the topics and skills that are most useful for succeeding in high school, in college and beyond, and sat and ECT, scores are honestly a very good measure of how prepared a student is on that content, and if a student realizes from those SAT or a CT scores that they aren’t as proficient as they thought they were based on their grades, I’d say, try and learn those that knowledge and skills, whether that’s on your own for free through Khan Academy, whether that’s, you know, with inexpensive prep books, and then, of course, you can do a class, private tutor, either way. I think it’s very important for students to learn that content and skills, then take these tests Seriously, try and get the highest score they can. That’s again, learning that content is just important on its own, but then getting a higher score that helps students get into better schools, not only to get into better schools, but to afford those better schools. There are a lot of schools who have automatic merit grade scholarships, so you get a certain GPA and a certain test score, and that might be $20,000 a year. I mean, there, I think it’s University of Tennessee offers up over $100,000 a year if you get to the high, the highest point of their merit grid. So I would advise students to take test scores seriously. And my prediction is that more schools will go back to test required or be more honest about their test optional policies that test optional really means test recommended. I mean, personally, I was completely in favor of test optional admissions before I saw how test optional admissions was gain gate being gained. It just college side, exactly on the college side, on the college side, yes, good clarification, because I’m just kind of like, all right, if you want to submit your test score, submit your test score. Like, just do whatever you want. Right. Now, I saw how colleges were using it to get in full pay students or get using it to get in recruited athletes with much lower scores than they otherwise would have, or using it to entice a lot of students to apply, who probably won’t get in because they didn’t submit a test score. But they get a lot more applications. So they’re able to they’re not enlarging their classes. They’re able to deny more students, which, you know, brings their acceptance rate down, so they look more selective. So seeing how it was gained by colleges has made me say, Okay, if you’re going to use the test scores, let’s just be honest about it. Let’s be test required, or at a minimum, just be honest and say you’re, you’re, you’re test optional, but your your test expected. Really, I mean, Amherst, all they say is they’re test optional, and you have a two Amherst is one of the few that has revealed its data. You have a 2.5 times higher chance if you submitted good test score, if you submitted test scores to Amherst. So my prediction is that more schools will be more honest in the future, at least, I hope

Lisa Marker Robbins 34:56

quick closing questions we’re wrapping up. Yeah, you said you you kind of welcomed when, you know, covid forced test optional, because you couldn’t have 30 kids in a room, taking an A, C, T or an S, a T, and you’re like, you know what? That’s good for kids. It’s good for families. It takes some pressure off. That’s great. How long did it take you before you reversed? You know, we talked about Harvard, reduce reversing their decision and doing so early. How long did it take you before you were like, Oh, I’m reversing my opinion. I thought this would be good for families, and now I’ve seen enough that I don’t think it’s good

David Blobaum 35:39

almost instantly, because I saw the wording of their press releases, which was, we’re truly test optional. We won’t disadvantage you. I mean, sat and a CT scores and tests. They’re one of they’re probably the most studied tests in the history of humanity, and it’s decades of research covering millions of students has shown that these help predict success in college and so to all of a sudden say these scores aren’t important. It was either saying we don’t care about the quality of education that we’re giving to our students, or it was a lie. And it turns out that it was a lie. I mean, then they’ll, they’ll do all these, you know, verbal gymnastics, to say, well, we’re not disadvantaging you, but if you have a good score, submit it, because that gives you an advantage. It’s like, well, then that means it’s a relative disadvantage. So I didn’t like how colleges weren’t being transparent about it. In my opinion, they weren’t being honest about it. So immediately I was like, Oh, I don’t think they’re being I don’t think they’re going about this the right way.

Lisa Marker Robbins 36:46

Okay, well, there’s, you know what? There’s a lot of distrust in higher ed right now, period, at such a high cost that we’re paying. And I guess the sad part is, this is just another one of those examples. Yet, you know, when we look at data from like the good jobs report, most of the good jobs, which is a whole nother topic I can get into another time, require a college degree. So David, as always, you’re amazing and you’re generous, and thank you. I know we’ll be having you back to update us in the future. Perfect.

David Blobaum 37:19

Thanks so much, Lisa.

Lisa Marker Robbins 37:26

I hope this conversation with David has helped clear up the confusion around standardized testing and giving you actionable insights to guide your teen’s college admissions journey. If you want access to the common data set, which David mentioned, I’ve created a video with step by step instructions on finding it for each college. The common data set is a gold mine of information that reveals exactly what matters in admissions for each school. Head over to flourish coaching, co.com forward, slash, C, D, S, and use this powerful tool to make informed decisions. If this episode was helpful to you, please share it with a friend who needs it too. Sharing, following the podcast, rating and reviewing helps us support more students in launching into a successful future. Thank you for listening to the College and Career Clarity podcast, where I help your family move from overwhelmed and confused to motivated, clear and confident about your teen’s future. You.