After skipping a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maggie Walker’s in-person admissions test returned for the class of 2026 on January 29, and then for makeup testing on February 15. This year’s test was not any less stressful than previous years, as prospective students swarmed the school with anticipation similar to that of past years. 

Last year, applicants’ admissions were based on a take-home essay, middle school grades, and teacher recommendations. This year, the original test structure was altered, eliminating the history portion of the test with a new essay about a personal journey which the applicant has gone through. This admissions change was a choice meant to promote diversity at Maggie Walker, but it was met by some controversy among the students. Sophomore Emma Notarnicola disagreed with replacing the history portion of the test with a personal essay because “some people are better test takers than essay writers,” and the “history test is not knowing the material, it’s document analysis.” Hareem Mubashar from the class of 2024 had a similar view to Notarnicola, arguing that history is a key pillar of Maggie Walker’s curriculum, and that “[the emphasis on history] is one of the reasons Maggie Walker stands out, and by removing the history portion of the test, the school is moving away from its purpose.” She suggested that instead of replacing the history test with a personal journey essay, a document-based analysis question should be implemented. On the flip side, sophomore Andrew Eaton agreed with taking out the history test to “equalize opportunity,” but noted that the assessment should have been replaced with something more analysis based, not personal. Sophomore Katherine Streeter agreed with taking away the history portion and replacing it with a personal journey essay because “the essay shows who you are as a person,” whereas it is easier to prepare for the history portion.

Despite this controversy, the change in this year’s admissions test did not ease the applicants’ feelings of stress when taking the examination. One applicant who took the entrance exam this year said that the assessment was “stressful,” and that the experience was “unsettling because everyone in the classroom was silent” from nervousness. The student described how “there was anticipation in the air.” The nerves felt this year are similar to the nerves felt by applicants in years past. For example, Mubashar said that the assessment was “worrying” and “anxiety inducing” when she took it. Sophomores Yeeva Chunnanond and Prisha Shah also remarked on their experiences of the examination, with Chunnanond saying that she was “tired because [the test] was early” and Shah commenting that the test “wasn’t what you expected because it had riddles,” highlighting its similarity to an IQ test. Shah also remarked that it was interesting to see people’s reactions to the evaluation, observing that people from different schools had different reactions. 

The Maggie Walker test is a gateway into Maggie Walker and can change one’s life. Thus, many applicants feel stressed on test day, and plenty of thought is put into the criteria of the test to give the applicants as equal a chance to get in as possible. Much controversy can arise as a result of admissions changes, but each person’s opinion can be biased for the version of the test that advantaged them. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that no matter what changes are made to the test, the applicants feel the same way that every Maggie Walker student did on test day. Junior Molly Cametas, who volunteered on testing day, observed that the test felt “about the same as when I took it. No one knew what they were doing, people got lost.” This just goes to show that despite the changes made to the test, this will remain the same: some applicants will be nervous, some excited, some anxious, some fearful, some confident, but they are all hopeful for the same outcome: to get into Maggie Walker.