SAT Left in the Wake?

About a month ago, Wake Forest University announced that it was moving to an SAT-optional admissions process. To date, it is the highest ranked (by US News & World Report) national university to do so.

Among the reasons given for the move was the concern that research shows the SAT favors students from higher socio-economic classes, partly through the practice of expensive SAT-prep courses. No doubt though, Wake will have to face backlash from people who will accuse them of 'dumbing down' to diversify.

To that I say, "Oy vey".

I can't argue about the correlation between SAT and SES because I haven't read the research on it. But I don't have to because it would not change my thinking - the SAT is but one tool of many, and should not be used a s sole determinant of college admission.

In its announcement about the admissions change, Wake indicated that it would base decisions on high school curriculum and grades, essays, extracurriculars, and personal interviews with admissions staff - a far more qualitative process than SAT cutoffs. Students will still have the option to submit their SAT scores as a way to build their admissions resume.

A recent editorial by Dan K. Thomasson, former editor of the Scripps Howard News Service, supported Wake Forest's decision by suggesting that qualities like resilience and motivation, critical to college success, cannot be measured on an assessment device, but should be viewed through a long-range lens on a student's life and academic career.

Out of curiosity, I looked at the list of schools that offer SAT-optional admissions, over 700 of them, according to Fairtest.org. While a good number of schools on the list are specialty schools that focus on areas like art & religion, there are many reputable universities as well. Some quality private colleges in Pennsylvania are there, schools like Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and Muhlenberg. Somehow these schools have managed to maintain their standards.

As to the charge of 'dumbing down' . . . some folks have a hard time recognizing that changes to the status quo can actually create progress. A generation from now we'll wonder what the hubbub was.