Haven't read the articles yet. But there are quite a number of 'test optional' colleges in the U.S. for a number of years. None of these are what I would call the most exclusive schools, but there are quite a number of good schools who allow this option. Most are small liberal arts type schools.
Most schools that don't want tests scores want a writing portfolio instead. We looked into this for my DD since she only received mediocre test scores. But in her case (and my DS's) writing isn't their strength either. So while I'm glad to hear this is an option out there since strong writing skills are probably a better indication of college success than good test scores. But it's not really a good option for either of my kids. DS is good at multiple choice tests, and struggles at writing to a prompt.
Bard has been good for gifted students for years. They have one of the best Early College programs (Bard at Simon's Rock) around if you can afford it. I know adults who attended years ago and I took a good look at it for my son.
