On December 16th, Harvard University announced that it will be extending its SAT/ACT test-optional admissions policy for the next four years. Admissions Dean William Fitzsimmons, said last month that “Students who do not submit standardized test scores will not be disadvantaged in their application process,” and that students should submit “whatever materials they believe would convey their accomplishments in secondary school and their promise for the future.” The announcement is practically significant because it assures grade 9-11 students that they can count on a test-optional admissions process when they apply to Harvard, but the announcement is symbolically more important in creating long-term confidence among high school students in test-optional admissions and the idea that there is no risk of an admissions penalty in choosing to focus on extracurricular activities and intellectual exploration instead of preparing for SAT/ACT tests. At Horizon Academic, we think this is welcome news, as students interested in applying for highly selective universities may feel less pressure to cram their summers with test prep and may have more time to pursue the activities (including research projects!) that mean the most to them.

Although Harvard’s announcement is noteworthy because of Harvard’s influence and prestige, other highly selective universities like the University of Chicago and the University of California system have adopted long-term test-optional policies already, and the test optional admissions movement has broadened substantially in recent years. Significant differences also exist between test-optional, test-flexible, and test-blind policies, which all accept as a fundamental premise that standardized test scores are not complete or ideal measures of a student’s true academic merit or readiness for college.

Harvard, along with a host of other Ivy League universities, first adopted this approach as a response to the latent implications of the pandemic, as lockdowns made SAT and ACT testing impossible. Ivy League and other top-ranked universities have largely decided to extend this policy due to CDC guidelines, logistical complications with testing sites and travel, and a broader acknowledgement that the pandemic has made it harder to prepare for standardized exams. Universities have generally chosen to extend these 2020 policies on a year-by-year basis, leaving grade 9 and 10 students wondering about a possible return to test requirements for their graduating classes. Shifts in policy such as Harvard’s demonstrate a long term commitment to a test-optional application process as opposed to the Ivy Leagues’ conventional year-to-year outlook regarding testing requirements.

With standardized test scores no longer being the defining, uniform standard by which applications are evaluated, other signifiers of academic excellence carry more weight. Grades doubtlessly count for more, and other qualitative measures of ambition, intellectual depth, and preparedness such as extracurricular activities are expected to gain in importance. There is no “best activity” for admissions, because there is no “best activity” for every student. The choice of extracurricular activities is just as individual and personal as a student’s choice of major, but it may be useful to consider what role a student’s activities play in demonstrating their skills, preparedness, and academic abilities, particularly as admissions offices will not have a uniform data set of test scores from which to infer these qualities.

Carrying out independent research as a high schooler undoubtedly highlights both: 1) high academic performance and 2) one’s prospective scholarly contribution as a student representing the university. While standardized test scores only provide a snapshot of students’ academic success, research is a skill that demonstrates to universities students’ capacity to critically engage with contemporary developments in their field, write analytically, synthesize information while making informed opinions, interpret data while grappling with ambiguity, and, importantly, overcome challenges.

High schoolers’ preparedness for college-level, research-based courses is one of the foundational criteria that go into an admissions decision. Doing undergraduate-level research with Horizon Academic displays the sort of academic rigor and intellectual curiosity at the heart of this consideration. With or without standardized test scores, writing a polished, 20-page research manuscript with Horizon Academic can give a student’s college application the edge required to compete with other high-achieving students as they’ll complete the program with a bulletproof case of academic readiness, a university-level writing sample, and networks with faculty and PhD candidates that can vouch for them via letters of recommendation. Test prep no longer has to dominate high school students’ free time — research projects can be a rewarding and academically-advantageous alternative to standardized testing. 

Samples of a student’s work can also make their way into a college application through the use of links to the full text of the work (which can be included in a resume or inside of the extracurricular activities list in the application). These writing samples and supplementary documents provide insights to university admissions officers that mere grades, GPAs, and standardized test scores fall short of. A 20-page research paper helps an application stand out, because this is much longer than a typical high school paper and because research manuscripts done at Horizon cite and interact with peer-reviewed academic papers rather than journalistic or textbook sources. In a similar way, letters of recommendation enable university admissions officers to better know applicants, and having a letter of recommendation from an expert research advisor can enhance a student’s profile, since a university professor or PhD researcher can speak with more authority about a student’s level of proficiency in a niche topic.

Harvard’s recent statement on their test-optional admissions policy may trigger a cascade of similar announcements from peer universities, or it may simply mark an important milestone in the longer term trend of pandemic-era test-optional admissions policies staying on the books for current high school students. Regardless, current high schoolers would do well to consider their choices of extracurricular activities and how they represent their interests and abilities. High schoolers can make themselves a competitive candidate by committing themselves to independent research projects as an activity, and we encourage those considering this choice to apply for the Horizon Academic Research Program.