Test-Optional Admissions and Predicting First Semester Student Outcomes in General Chemistry I

Though many American higher education institutions have rapidly transitioned to undergraduate test-optional admissions policies following the COVID-19 pandemic, discipline-specific research on outcomes of these policies has been limited. This study utilized retrospective transcript analysis from 4,162 students at a midwestern R1 institution to compare first semester General Chemistry I performance for students who submitted standardized exam scores versus those who did not. From 2022 to 2024, approximately one-third of the first semester General Chemistry I students did not submit standardized test scores for admissions consideration. These non-submitting students performed an average of one-half letter grade lower in General Chemistry I and were nearly three times as likely to have a C– or DFW (a D or F grade or a withdrawal) course outcome than score submitters. In addition, regression analysis was used to predict final course grades and pass rates for General Chemistry I students using a combination of test score submission, an institutional chemistry placement exam focusing on stoichiometry and mathematics skills, and high school grade point average (GPA). Though the placement exam and high school GPA were effective in predicting student performance to an extent, non-score-submitting students performed poorly compared to score submitters even with similar high school grades and placement exam performance. The institutional placement exam is provided and may be widely applicable in screening students for general chemistry readiness in the absence of standardized test scores for all students. This may be used alone or in combination with other available predictors, including the choice to submit ACT or SAT exam scores.