Linfield College becomes test-optional; debuts other recruitment initiatives
Linfield College faculty members voted October 15 to adopt a test-optional policy for admission, joining more than 700 U.S. colleges and universities in no longer requiring prospective students to submit ACT or SAT scores. Scores are allowed as part of an admissions application; just not required.
In a 2018 study, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) found that standardized tests do a poor job identifying applicants who will succeed in higher education. The test-optional movement, the study authors wrote, reflects a broader shift away from “a narrow assessment” of potential.
The NACAC study also found that private colleges and universities that adopt test-optional policies saw increases in applications by an average of 29%, and increases in the proportion of black and Latinx students applying and being admitted.
In addition to going test-optional, Linfield is implementing two other new recruitment initiatives this fall.
The first is the Linfield Scholarship and Visit Weekend. This weekend is a reimagined version of what had been called Competitive Scholarship Day. This is an invitation-only event for high school seniors that have applied to Linfield by December 1, 2018.
All students who attend the event and then subsequently enroll at Linfield will receive a minimum $1,000 participation award. There will be exams for competitive scholarships that range from $12,000 to $20,000, as well as opportunities to engage with campus life during the weekend.
The date for the exams will be on Sunday, February 17, 2019.
The second initiative is the adoption of Core Transfer Maps for Linfield credit. Starting in the fall of 2018, Oregon community colleges offer the Core Transfer Maps, consisting of a minimum of 30 quarter (20 semester) credits of distributed coursework.
Students who have completed a Core Transfer Map prior to matriculation at Linfield will have met at least five Linfield Curriculum (General Education) requirements.
