Admissions Insight: The Role of Standardized Tests

About Joanna

A proud alumna of Georgetown University, Joanna has decades of experience in the college admissions and standardized testing space. She’s a longtime admissions interviewer and current member of the Board of Governors at Georgetown, has worked for standardized test agencies (the Graduate Management Admission Council and HR Certification Institute) and prep companies (Veritas Prep), partnered with a great many admissions offices, and served as a college admissions consultant for hundreds of applicants to elite programs. As a nonprofit marketing executive, she focuses her efforts on educational technology and higher education, and volunteers her spare time at a variety of athletic and military organizations including Dog Tag Bakery, Team Red White & Blue, the Ironman Foundation, and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

About the class

Today’s high schoolers have already lived through some major changes in college admissions testing: not only have the SAT and ACT made significant changes, but colleges themselves have begun to shift from “test optional” to either “test blind” or “test required.” With so many ongoing changes leading to so much uncertainty for students, join veteran admissions insider Joanna Graham—who has worked both in admissions offices and at standardized testing agencies—to break down just how standardized tests are used in admissions and how you can use testing to your advantage. You’ll learn how to think about test-optional, superscores, choosing a test, retaking the rest, and even using test scores as part of your college research.