BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — You can probably remeber the feeling of sweaty palms anda racing heart. When it comes to standarized tests students say the pressure is getting worse.
"Oh my God," said Julian Reynoso, Sophomore at Canisius College. "I'm like a month away from getting into college and I got to worry about this test that I haven't taken."
However, at Canisius College, the enrollment process is changing. The college first became "Test Optional" in March of 2020 and several students have already reaped those benefits. Students have now said that with the new Test-Free Admission Policy, things will only continue to get better.
"For me personally, a lot of my colleges were test optional which was so reliving to me," said Gianna Perugini. "To not have to worry about that because my GPA and all of my extracurricular and stuff were so high and then my SAT was bringing me down from a lot of my top school choices. So not having to worry about that anymore is going to be so great for students who really do have the work ethic to succeed in college but don't have the SAT score to prove it."
Steve Stoute, President at Canisius College said from the beginning, the new policy was all about the students and creating as much opportunity as possible.
"In our last two classes, our last two freshman classes, did not submit test scores and they've done just as well as their peers," said Stoute. "So we know nationally what the data says but we know internally that standardized test scores are not the most accurate predictor of a students ability to be successful. So we. never really focused on them heavily and now we just get to do away with them."
The college said since becoming test optional, applications have increased by 18%, the admittance pool increased by 12%, including an increase of students of color which grew from 37% to 44%. Stoute said he believes standardized testing created barriers he believes the Test-Free Admission Policy can break down.
"We shouldn’t be proud to exclude people from the promise of higher education," said Stoute. "We should want to include more people and this is the way to do it."
Romuand Gjounfoune, Freshman at Canisius College said he experienced language barriers during his SAT testing.
"I feel like I'm a good enough student but Enlgish is not my first language," said Gjounfoune. "So I had pretty good grades in high school but going to that SAT, for me I did SAT. So, taking that test I barely passed it."
Stoute said he's encouraging students to own who they are, differences and all. Students told 7 News it feel nice to be evaluated for who they are as people instead of just a number from a test score.
"It's very refreshing and it just shows that there are people here that want you to succeed," said Mercedes Sailor, Sophomore at Canisius College. "So, it just helps you strive to be better.
