“test-optional”) policy, many high-achieving less-advantaged applicants choose not to submit
scores even when doing so would allow Admissions to identify them as students likely to
succeed at Dartmouth and in turn benefit their application.
SAT and ACT scores are highly predictive of academic performance at Dartmouth. This is
consistent with previous research (e.g., Comeaux and Sánchez, 2020; Bettinger et al., 2013;
Saboe and Terrizzi, 2019). It is also a key finding of the White Paper and a result we have
reproduced in the data provided. Using detailed admissions data from IvyPlus institutions,
2
Chetty, Deming, and Friedman (2023) show that SAT and ACT scores also predict career
success, including high levels of earnings and attendance at elite graduate schools, holding
family income constant. Importantly, the relationship between first-year college GPA and
SAT/ACT scores is likewise quite similar across neighborhood income and other demographic
subgroups at Dartmouth. By contrast, Chetty, Deming, and Friedman (2023) show that certain
non-test score inputs in the admissions process, such as guidance counselor recommendations, do
not predict college performance even though they do advantage more-advantaged applicants at
IvyPlus institutions, increasing their admissions chances.
By necessity, test-optional policies thus put more weight on components of the application that
increase the admissions chances of groups that: (a) have historically been better represented at
Dartmouth; and (b) do not predict success at Dartmouth or later in life. Moreover, Dartmouth
Admissions reads SAT/ACT scores “in context,” or in relation to the local educational
environment. For example, an applicant with an SAT score of 1400 has a higher probability of
admission if from a high school where average SAT scores are relatively low. Under a
test-optional policy, these students are less likely to be identified and admitted.
Below, we summarize the findings from our independent investigation of data on Dartmouth
applicants and Dartmouth students. Institutional Research provided us with detailed data on
applicants (including enrolled students) who applied (and in some cases enrolled) during
calendar years 2017-2022. This period helpfully spans the test-required and test-optional years.
The data items include SAT/ACT test scores, high school GPA and other admissions indicators,
demographics for the applicants, and College Board measures of high school and (separately)
2
Ivy-Plus institutions are defined as the eight Ivy League colleges – Brown University, Columbia University,
Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and
Yale University – plus Stanford University, MIT, Duke University, and the University of Chicago.