(01-30-2020 01:58 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  As Bs and Cs vary by school district. I know, I moved here from Hawaii whose public school system was awful compared to the Blue Ribbon school that Warren Township in Gurnee was.

With that being said, the ACT and SAT are designed to level the playing field and gain an understanding of a students ability to go through a collegiate level curriculum. Annual Retention rates at universities aren't terrific to begin with. So now we let in a bunch of students who may or may not be able to handle collegiate level courses.

And let's say they are from poor families. What happens when they fail out? What happens to those big loans they took out? It's great they got a chance to go to college, but are they prepared to succeed in college? Seems like it's set up to fail so we can collect on enrollment till they drop out.

The ACT and SAT do not level the playing field though. They disadvantage largely poor and minority communities. If you're worried about the cost of college and student loan debt then take up that issue. but don't deny a kid an opportunity because you wrongly believe that poor kids are somehow less prepared for college because they couldn't afford the test prep classes that some of their peers could.

NIU is late to the party. SIU, WIU, DePaul, and University of Chicago all have some form of a "Test Optional" policy.