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Last week, many top colleges and universities were celebrating their successes in admissions during the pandemic.
The Washington Post noted that Harvard University saw applications rise by 42 percent, while the University of Virginia was up 15 percent. The
Post credited the fact that many of these colleges were -- for the first time -- test optional this year, meaning students didn't need to submit SAT or ACT scores. The headline: "Applications Surge After Big-Name Colleges Halt SAT and ACT Testing Rules."
In the West, the headline in the
Los Angeles Times was "UC’s Record-Smashing Applications Put Long-Held Diversity Goals Within Reach." The story detailed the University of California's systemwide increase of 16 percent in applications. But it noted the Black applicants increased by 48 percent at both Berkeley and UCLA. Latinx applicants increased by 33 percent at UCLA and 36 percent at Berkeley. The University of California is test blind this year, meaning that it won't look at test scores in admissions.