Wake Forest Drops SAT, ACT Requirement

[erpowers]

I contend this is a good thing. My biggest problem with standardized tests was that I thought they were biased; not based on race, but on economics. I always felt middle class and poor kids were put at a disadvantage in that some of them probably could not afford to take test prep programs that wealthier kids were able to take. It always seems that there were some middle classs and poor kids who, if given the opportunity to take test prep programs, would do much better on the test while at the same time there were some wealthy kids who, if they had not had the opportunity to take test prep, would not have done as well on the test. Therefore, I felt the tests were not good judges of how kids would perform in college.

[lovuian]

1. I agree I knew kids taking special courses when they were 12

just to help their SAT scores

[MedleyMisty]

2. yeah - that's why I try to not hate myself too much

I took it in 7th grade in 1993 (so right before a major recentering, I think) and got a 570 verbal score.

Then I saw a study done with kids who got 600+ at the same age in the early 80s and concluded that I was incredibly stupid.

But then I thought about it some more and most of the kids who show up in studies and articles about gifted kids have rich parents who probably prepped them for the test or at least gave them access to materials that I didn't have. My parents were millworkers - and my father died when I was in first grade so my mother was on her own for most of my childhood.

Anyway, go Wake Forest! :) I went there for the state award TIP ceremony and it's a very pretty place.

[northzax]

3. you needed tests to get into Wake Forest?

I thought it just involved being able to recite the alphabet. who knew?

all kidding aside, the SAT and ACT are absurd (and I say this as someone who took the SAT with a blinding hangover on three hours sleep, without prep, and pulled a 1560 (in the days before the first rescoring or it moving to 2400) this was only a small improvement on the 1520 I managed in the seventh grade. oh, and I should add, as a disclaimer, that I never did a prep class or cracked a Kaplan book, I will tutor your child for a reasonable fee (and trust me, if you have to ask, you won't think that fee is reasonable, but it pays for my pro bono tutoring)

whoppee. so I can take a freaking bubble test. I will be the first to tell you it is meaningless.

[TexasObserver]

4. Yeah, they should test them for texting skills and familiarity with Facebook and Myspace

Now you know why college delivers the education people once got in high school.

The dumbing down of America continues.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

5. There is no part of education that is not economically biased.

You think the tests are skewed because of test prep programs? What about GPAs being skewed by tutors? By sending kids to expensive private schools with low classroom sizes? By sending kids to summer learning opportunities, effectively extending the school year?

There is literally no aspect of education that is balanced with regard to economic status.

[BlooInBloo]

6. (1) More likely they decided that incoming classes are so stupid WITH the test in place...

that it costs them little to abandon it.

(2) They get good press from the pro-stupidity crowd (the vast majority of the country).

(3) It opens up a world of financial opportunities to the "school".

[fasttense]

7. Every test has some kind of bias built into it.

Most tests are biased in favor of people who can read and see.

[Jim__]

8. What will they base acceptance on?

Will Wake Forest have their own entrance exam? Or will they base it on high school record, interview? Or, do they have more space than applicants?

It seems like if you base college entrance mostly on high school record, it puts a lot of pressure on high schools to give good grades.

I agree about standardized testing not being a very good measure, especially multiple choice standardized tests. But, given a surplus of applicants, there has to be some way to make a selection. I'm not sure what the best selection criteria are; and have always thought that a set of mixed, weighted criteria was a reasonable shot.