Supplemental Appendix - How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds - Appendix A: Supplementary Figures and Tables

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Asher

Supplemental Appendix Appendix A compiles supplementary figures and tables supporting an admissions study on how test-optional policies affect high-achieving applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. The appendix reports neighborhood income, high-school advantage, family income, gender differences, and relationships between cumulative first-year GPA and SAT composite scores across test-required and test-optional cohorts. It also provides estimated fractions of applicants reporting scores under the test-optional period and summary statistics for test score required cohorts.

LanguageEnglish

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Pages20

Reading Time50 min

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Appendix A: Supplementary Figures and Tables

Figure A.1 - Applications by Neighborhood Income Decile Pre and Post Test Optional

Figure A.2 - Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: High (Navy) versus Low (Yellow) Levels of Advantage At High School

Figure A.3 - Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: High (Navy) versus Low (Yellow) Family Neighborhood Income

Figure A.4 - Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: Male (Navy) versus Female (Yellow) Dartmouth Students

Figure A.5 - Estimated Fraction of Dartmouth Applicants Reporting Scores Under Test Optional Policy, by SAT Score

Table A.1: Summary Stats

Supplemental Appendix How Test Optional Policies in College Admissions Disproportionately Harm High Achieving Applicants from Disadvantaged Backgrounds Bruce Sacerdote, Douglas O. Staiger, and Michele Tine Appendix A: Supplementary Figures and Tables Figure A.1: Applications by Neighborhood Income Decile Pre and Post Test Optional Notes: This figure uses data for Dartmouth applicants in years 2017-2018 (test-required) or 2021-2022 (test-optional) . The two test-optional cohorts are on average 35% larger than the two test-required cohorts (see Table 2). Key takeaway: The neighborhood income distribution of Dartmouth applicants is similar for the test-required and test-optional cohorts. Figure A.2: Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: High (Navy) versus Low(Yellow) Levels of Advantage At High School (sample split into equal halves) High HS advantage Low HS advantage Notes: Figure shows a binned scatter plot of cumulative first year GPA against the SAT for 16 equal-sized bins of SAT for enrolled Dartmouth students in the 2017-2018 (test-required) and 2020-2021 (test-optional) cohorts. Separate binned scatters are shown for low levels of high school advantage (yellow circles) and high levels of high school advantage (navy triangles) students. High school advantage is measured using the College Board Landscape index of challenges for the high school which include family income, college going rates for students from the high school, crime rates in the area, housing stability, education levels of the adults in the area, and family structure in the area. For this graph we use an alternative definition of less advantaged high school. We split high school advantage into the lower 80 percent of high school advantage and the upper 20 percent which splits the Dartmouth enrolled sample roughly in half. The SAT Composite is used for all applicants where reported. Where only ACT is available, scores are rescaled to the SAT scale. Key takeaway: The linear relationship between cumulative first year GPA and SAT score is similar across Dartmouth students with high versus low-high school advantage. Figure A.3: Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: High (Navy) versus Low (Yellow) Family Neighborhood Income (sample split into equal halves) High neighborhood income Low neighborhood income Notes: Figure displays bin scatter plot of cumulative first year GPA against the SAT for 16 equal-sized bins of SAT for enrolled Dartmouth students in the 2017-2018 (test-required) and 2020-2021 (test-optional) cohorts. Separate bin scatters are shown for students from low median neighborhood income (yellow circles) and high median neighborhood income (navy triangles) . For this graph we use an alternative definition of high-low median neighborhood income. We define “high income” as neighborhood income above the US 85th percentile which splits the sample of enrolled students roughly in half. The SAT Composite is used for all applicants where reported. Where only ACT is available, scores are rescaled to the SAT scale. Key takeaway: The linear relationship between cumulative first year GPA and SAT score is similar across Dartmouth students from high-and low-income neighborhoods. Figure A.4: Relationship Between Cumulative First Year GPA and Composite SAT Scores: Male (Navy) versus Female (Yellow) Dartmouth Students Female Male Notes: Figure displays bin scatter plot of cumulative first year GPA against the SAT for 16 equal-sized bins of SAT for enrolled Dartmouth students in the 2017-2018 (test-required) and 2020-2021 (test-optional) cohorts. Separate bin scatters are shown for female (yellow circles) and male (navy triangles) students. The SAT Composite is used for all applicants where reported. Where only ACT is available, scores are rescaled to the SAT scale. Key takeaway: The linear relationship between cumulative first year GPA and SAT score is similar acr

FAQs

What do Figure A.1 show about test-required versus test-optional Dartmouth applicants?

Figure A.1 compares applications by neighborhood income decile before and after the test-optional policy period. The notes indicate the neighborhood income distribution is similar across test-required and test-optional cohorts.

How are cumulative first-year GPA and SAT scores analyzed in Figures A.2–A.4?

The figures use a binned scatter plot relating cumulative first-year GPA to SAT composite scores for Dartmouth enrolled students. They split the sample by measures of advantage, neighborhood income, or gender and compare patterns across test-required and test-optional cohorts.

How does Figure A.5 estimate the likelihood of reporting scores during the test-optional period?

Figure A.5 estimates the fraction of applicants opting to report scores during test-optional years by SAT-score bins. The notes explain the estimation approach by dividing test-optional scores by test-required scores, scaled to account for application increases, and report that 46% of test-optional applicants did not submit a score.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Asher