Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

  • admissions.blog

Case Western Goes Test Optional in Response to COVID-19

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Craig

Never let a crisis go to waste is a maxim someone at Case Western University must deeply believe in, as the university’s admissions office announced today that it is now test-optional for students entering in the fall of 2021.

Case Western framed this admissions switcheroo in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the ACT and SAT to cancel spring test dates.

“We understand students’ concerns about completing Case Western Reserve’s standardized testing requirements for admission. In response, the university has approved a test-optional policy for students applying for the fall 2021 semester. In light of the unprecedented circumstances the COVID-19 pandemic has created, Case Western Reserve believes students’ best interests are served by an approach that assures them of our flexibility as they progress through the college search process.”

The university went on to add, “We will determine policies for future classes in winter 2020/21.”

Expect more colleges to do this. While clear-eyed people will find unsavory the trend of colleges wrapping self-interest-guided decisions in imitative altruism during a real crisis when so many real people are suffering and losing their jobs/incomes – and potentially their lives, college admissions deans and their overlords are focused on generating as many applications as possible no matter the calamity that surrounds them. 

Whatever happened to unvarnished honesty, especially in a time of crisis? Case – and many other colleges – want as many applicants as they can muster from the high school class of 2021 in what is likely to be an admissions cycle characterized by “softer” demand than college administrators want to contemplate.

I’ll believe “students’ best interests are served” when these same institutions reduce the price of tuition and/or offer permanent full-time online degrees. We don’t even know if recently deposited students from the high school class of 2020 will be able to start their college experiences on campus in August. In the meantime, congrats to Case on the PR and aggressively-timed (why not announce this over the summer?) attempt to stabilize your finances for FY2021-2022.

Aerial view of Cleveland, Ohio, home to Case Western Reserve University

About Craig

Craig Meister is a college admissions coach and educational consultant. He previously held university admissions and high school college and career counseling positions in Baltimore, West Palm Beach, and Rio de Janeiro.

Filed Under: Admissions Policies, Advice & Analysis, Case Western, COVID-19, Ticker

Related posts:

Case Western Still Accepting Apps for its Diversity Overnight MIT to no longer consider SAT Subject Test scores In no rush, Case Western and Tulane keep some Early applicants in suspense University of Arizona Pushes Test Optional Goal Posts Even Further

Subscribe to our mailing list

Making the most of the summer before senior year

Oh, Canada! The Definitive List of Canadian University Application Deadlines

Top 5 Ways Applying to US Colleges is Different than Applying to UK Universities

Third Biggest Lie College Admissions Officers Tell

Top 10 Cheap Summer Extracurricular Activities for High School Students

It’s about to pay a little more to be poor at Colby

Best Summer Programs in Europe for High School Students

Second Biggest Lie College Admissions Officers Tell

Trending Posts

Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

Common Application Essay Prompts for 2023-2024 Confirmed

Many high school counselors mean well but…

Building Your Best College List

Amherst College Accepts 9% of Applicants to Class of 2027

The Ultimate Virtual College Admissions Library – 2022 Edition

5 Smart Summer Tips for Wise Rising Seniors

Dear 9th Grader: Don’t get rejected from the Ivy League so soon!

Write for Us | Sponsored Posts
All content © 2022 | Admissions.Blog
Terms of Service | +1 410-526-2558

Search Posts By Topic

  • 3 Year Degree (2)
  • Accommodations (2)
  • Admissions Policies (82)
  • Admissions Statistics (69)
  • Advice & Analysis (310)
  • Alabama (1)
  • Amherst (2)
  • AP (4)
  • Applications (62)
  • Arizona (4)
  • ASU (1)
  • Austin College (1)
  • Baylor (1)
  • Berry College (1)
  • Boston University (3)
  • Brown (3)
  • Bryn Mawr (1)
  • BYU (1)
  • Caltech (1)
  • Canada (2)
  • Career and Technical Education (7)
  • Case Western (3)
  • China (1)
  • CMC (1)
  • Coalition (13)
  • Colby (1)
  • College Counselor (18)
  • College Fairs (5)
  • College Life (31)
  • College List (33)
  • College List Deathmatch (4)
  • College Visit (22)
  • Columbia (5)
  • Common Application (35)
  • Community Colleges (4)
  • Cornell (3)
  • COVID-19 (8)
  • CSU (1)
  • CU Boulder (1)
  • Dartmouth (3)
  • Davidson (1)
  • Demonstrated Interest (17)
  • DePaul (1)
  • Dickinson (1)
  • Direct Admissions (1)
  • Duke (2)
  • Early Action (34)
  • Early Decision (37)
  • Enrichment (13)
  • Environmental Science (1)
  • Essays (27)
  • Europe (6)
  • Exercise Science (1)
  • Exeter (1)
  • Extracurricular Activities (24)
  • Feature (2)
  • Financial Aid (22)
  • First Person (9)
  • France (1)
  • FSU (1)
  • Gap Programs (2)
  • GED (1)
  • Georgetown (4)
  • Germany (2)
  • Gifts (3)
  • GPA (4)
  • Hamilton (1)
  • Harvard (6)
  • High School (21)
  • Higher National Diplomas (1)
  • HiSET (1)
  • IB (4)
  • IEC (1)
  • IELTS (1)
  • Indiana (3)
  • International (6)
  • Internships (5)
  • Interviews (10)
  • Iowa (1)
  • Italy (2)
  • Ivy League (19)
  • JHU (2)
  • LD (1)
  • Majors (11)
  • MIT (4)
  • Naviance (2)
  • NCAA (3)
  • New Mexico State University (1)
  • News (59)
  • Northwestern (3)
  • Notification News (2)
  • Notre Dame (3)
  • NYU (1)
  • Of Note (5)
  • Ohio State (1)
  • Open Admission (2)
  • Parents (7)
  • Penn (6)
  • Pitt (2)
  • Popular Posts (16)
  • Princeton (4)
  • Priority (2)
  • Professor of the Month (1)
  • PSU (3)
  • Public Universities (8)
  • Purdue (1)
  • Rankings (8)
  • Reader Questions (10)
  • Recommendations (8)
  • Regular (20)
  • Research (4)
  • Resume (16)
  • Rice (3)
  • ROI (2)
  • Rolling (5)
  • Santa Clara University (1)
  • Sewanee (1)
  • SMU (1)
  • South America (2)
  • Southwestern (TX) (1)
  • Spotlight Series (1)
  • St. Edward's University (1)
  • St. John's College (1)
  • Standardized Tests (30)
  • Stanford (3)
  • Summer (17)
  • Swarthmore (1)
  • TASC (1)
  • Teacher Recommendations (8)
  • Temple (1)
  • Texas (3)
  • Texas A&M (1)
  • Ticker (21)
  • Trending Posts (27)
  • Trinity University (TX) (1)
  • Tufts (3)
  • Tuition (3)
  • Tulane (5)
  • UC Berkeley (6)
  • UC Davis (1)
  • UC Santa Barbara (1)
  • UCAS (4)
  • UCLA (7)
  • UDub (1)
  • UF (2)
  • UGA (3)
  • UIUC (3)
  • UMass (1)
  • UMD (4)
  • UNC (1)
  • United Kingdom (6)
  • Universal College Application (1)
  • University of Chicago (1)
  • University of Dallas (1)
  • University of New Mexico (1)
  • University of Rochester (1)
  • USC (2)
  • UT Austin (1)
  • UVA (6)
  • Vanderbilt (1)
  • Video Game Design (1)
  • Villanova (2)
  • Wash U (5)
  • Williams (1)
  • Wisconsin (1)
  • Yale (10)
  • ZeeMee (1)

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in