Can we fix the article title to properly capitalize SAT and ACT to be more readable? Particularly since both "sat" and "act" are words.
University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
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Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#22>Admissions tests, allegedly biased against minority students, will be phased out over five years
Why are we lumping minorities into one group when we know that many minority groups score better than average on standardized tests than the general population. Asian Americans, Nigerian Americans, Jewish people, etc all do very well.
In a world where the wealthy have ever more advantages in college admissions, standardized tests serve to level the playing field. I grew up in a very wealthy town and many kids I knew whose parents spent large sums on SAT tutors never improved their scores because they didn't have the intellectual horsepower.
Just because college administrators and others feel uncomfortable that certain groups continue to do better than others on the SAT is a horrible reason to get rid of the test.
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#23Yes, finally! As someone who underwent the standardized testing grind, I have been waiting for an announcement like this by a university system for years.
I understand that there needs to be some standardized way to objectively score students, because allocating college seats to students seems to be an induced scarcity problem.
However, as someone who scored highly and is currently studying computer science at UC Berkeley, I ultimately feel like my time was wasted because the tests have almost no relation to any of my studies in class.
I know that in the absence of SAT and ACT, universities will need to come up with a different system, that has an equal chance of being gamed. Perfect is the enemy of good, and in this case, I would rather we strive toward standardized systems that actually relate to the content of high school. So many times while studying for the test I thought how much of a waste of time it is, and that I would rather be doing something else like programming.
Thank goodness that nowadays all I have to worry about is actual computer science. I got past the time-wasting hump and I never have to look back again. That is, unless I face the GRE...
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#24[deleted]
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#25If you thought grade inflation was bad before, hold on to your tuchus.
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#26Yay, another chance for schools to curate incoming classes based on what they want on a brochure rather than on merit.
I'd hardly call rich parents paying for SAT prep classes a better solution.
I doubt the rich kids doing well even moves the needle. That is just being used as cover for "too many" Asians taking up the spots of other minorities.
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#27I wish UC the best of luck designing another test. That it was a unanimous vote is suspicious to me though... did the college board stop bribing the board of regents? Or did the regents pool together to create a consulting agency that's getting paid out to develop the new test? Or are they really all so pliable or same-minded?
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#28Well, does IQ matter for academia? Some latent ability to think quickly matters. That's the point of the SAT.
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#29I think this is a good move overall. Remember, they're not phasing out tests entirely, it's over a 5 year period before they can develop alternative tests. I think US college exam systems are horribly flawed. For one, why are they run by a private non-profit rather than the government? They're also clearly not difficult enough, when at elite universities it's more a qualification than a determinant. In other nations,…
They're definitely difficult enough to separate the abilities of most students into rough groups. At the upper 1% it's certainly hard to differentiate but for the other 99% it's quite effective.
Re: University of California Will Stop Using SAT, ACT
#30I had middling grades and not much extracurricular padding in high school but 99th percentile SAT (no prep other than a practice test). If it weren't for the SAT I would have had worse college options. School felt like it provided nothing more than read and regurg and my background did not promote anything extra. So personally I do not see how this decision evens the playing field.