Many public and private colleges around the country, such as Portland State University, rely on SAT and ACT scores as an important factor contributing to admission decisions for millions of students. Similarly, organizations that award major scholarships, most notably the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, utilize PSAT scores in determining candidates worthy of the financial award. The National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), however, called these long-standing testing procedures into question when it convened in Seattle on Sept. 22 to produce the 2008 Testing Commission Report.
College admission experts question importance of SAT scores
Many public and private colleges around the country, such as Portland State University, rely on SAT and ACT scores as an important factor contributing to admission decisions for millions of students.
Similarly, organizations that award major scholarships, most notably the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, utilize PSAT scores in determining candidates worthy of the financial award.
The National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), however, called these long-standing testing procedures into question when it convened in Seattle on Sept. 22 to produce the 2008 Testing Commission Report.
The panel discussed the growing number of schools that no longer rely on standardized test scores for admission, as well as the pros and cons of requiring SAT or ACT results from applicants.
The standardized testing methods have routinely come under critique by educators for decades, most notably on claims that the tests only evaluate one type of intelligence.
The Oregon University System, including schools like PSU, University of Oregon and Oregon State University, requires all students applying to Oregon public colleges to report either SAT or ACT scores.
However, PSU does things a little differently. Although PSU does request test scores from applicants, the admission officials say they don’t look at them if the student meets the minimum admission requirements.
“The SAT scores are secondary, they’re a backup. But most students meet the minimum requirement,” said Agnes Hoffman, director of admissions at Portland State.
The minimum requirements include a 3.0 cumulative high school GPA and the completion of 14 college-prep courses, such as social studies and mathematics–some of the lowest requirements out of all the OUS schools.
Hoffman’s views about what really matters in judging student potential coincide with those issued in the NACAC report. “The best predictor of college success is high school preparation in terms of GPA and subjects covered,” said Hoffman.
Some of Oregon’s private colleges, which are not part of the OUS, provide alternatives to SAT score submission.
Lewis and Clark College, for example, allows students to put forward a portfolio, which displays a variety of the student’s academic or artistic work, in place of a “traditional” application and their standardized test scores.
Reed College requires all students to at least report SAT or ACT scores, but the school admissions department said they also allow applicants to submit up to three subject tests, which allows students to show subject mastery and subsequently trump a poor SAT score.
Hoffman says Portland State does not intend to move away from standardized test scores any time soon, but instead hopes to use the scores more effectively.
Hoffman said that beginning in the fall of 2009, the writing portion of the SAT and ACT will become mandatory, and the scores will be used to determine placement in lower-level writing classes. Hoffman called the writing portion “crucial” to placing incoming students in the correct writing courses.
Outside perspectiveWilliam R. Fitzsimmons, a key researcher in the project and dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, has called the exams into question with more data to back up his findings than critics in the past. Fitzsimmons was a major contributing author to the report, which concluded the following:
Why the tests aren’t passing* The tests do not focus on standard high school curriculum.
* They are an inaccurate predictor of college success: Low-scoring students frequently earn higher GPAs in the first year of university than their high-scoring counterparts.
* Heavy focus on SAT/ACT scores has created a multi-billion dollar test-prep industry that charges large fees for prep courses and guides, which leave students from low-income families at a disadvantage of about 20-30 points (the average margin of improvement from students who use these courses).
* The tests distract students from their high school courses, which, as research shows, better prepare students for college than memorizing tricks to beat the SAT.
Some suggested alternatives* SAT II Subject Tests: Exams that specifically test high school curriculum from specific subjects. Some top colleges, including New York University, require at least two subject tests from applicants, and they weight the admissions decision more heavily on these than on the raw SAT score.
* Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests: Exams that specifically test high school knowledge and require very little preparation outside of the classroom.
* A new exam: An assessment that focuses on high school curriculum and college readiness. Fitzsimmons believes that this will encourage high schools to broaden curricula while simultaneously pushing students to focus on their courses instead of beating the system.
