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Why Wake went SAT optional for college admissions...

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HowardDeanSux

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Found this article very enlightening and explained the "real" reasons why excellent schools such as Wake have elected to pursue optional standardized testing for admissions:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevecohen/2012/09/29/the-three-biggest-lies-in-college-admission/

Are test-optional colleges adopting a kindler-gentler approach to admissions? No, they’re chasing rankings. Think about it. When a school declares SAT scores optional, which students report their scores? Only students with high test scores. This boosts the avg. SAT scores at the college and the school moves up a rung on the rankings ladder.

Looks like the ruse by the admissions staff may become the new norm as schools place more and more emphasis on US News college rankings. Academic integrity and honesty is becoming more and more comparable to the "honest" dealings on Wall Street. Reality can truly be a bummer.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Who needs to be encumbered with data.
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Lol.

I mean, if we were looking for an ulterior motive, I would think that it would be monetarily driven. If rich person's son doesn't have to submit awful SAT scores then maybe we can admit rich person's son as a full pay student. Then maybe rich person will then donate tons of money.
 
Exactly. Easier to slide in people who can pay full price.
 
I'm also pretty sure it is accomplishing it's stated objective of a more diverse student body.
 
I have not looked for this data. However, I will attempt to locate this data. It is interesting that Wake moved up in the rankings once we changed to optional testing. If this trend continues, I suspect other excellent schools outside of the "magical" top twenty will pursue a similar admissions policy while the student body essentially remains unchanged, and the importance of standardized testing is still paramount although not "officially" quoted.
 
I would also love to see if the student body has in fact changed at all. I think we have all just assumed it would and assumed the administrations motives were pure...which I obviously do not believe to be the case. Either way, a higher ranking certainly does not hurt the perceived value of a Wake degree which I believe is truly outstanding. However, I believe money (allowing an under qualified student to attend Wake while not lowering the average SAT scores) and the improved rankings are the primary factors in this change, not a more diverse student body.
 
Who says we aren't diverse? We get students from all over New Jersey.
 
WakeBDer said:
Lol.

I mean, if we were looking for an ulterior motive, I would think that it would be monetarily driven. If rich person's son doesn't have to submit awful SAT scores then maybe we can admit rich person's son as a full pay student. Then maybe rich person will then donate tons of money.
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Oh, man. You do not want this to happen. Wake Forest can best accomplish it's mission if it's endowment stays small.
 
Don't believe that's the motive at all. First, I don't believe our ranking hasn't substantively changed since adopting the policy. It's been 27 +/- 2 ever since I started paying attention. Second, makes sense SAT scores would increase as application numbers increase and admittance rates correspondingly decrease. Third, I believe this policy was a result of a book written by a Wake sociology professor on test scores.
 
The only "data" I can find is comments from the admissions office stating "applicants who choose not to submit scores for admission generally have higher scores than those applicants who submit scores". That sounds completely backwards to me and quite unbelievable. Also, if they did not submit their scores, how does admission know what they scored? If someone has the ability to find the data, I would be interested as well.
 
HowardDeanSux said:
The only "data" I can find is comments from the admissions office stating "applicants who choose not to submit scores for admission generally have higher scores than those applicants who submit scores". That sounds completely backwards to me and quite unbelievable. Also, if they did not submit their scores, how does admission know what they scored? If someone has the ability to find the data, I would be interested as well.
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I believe they are asked (or required) to provide them after being admitted.
 
The best way to select students is to mandate IQ testing. For all the controversy, IQ is the best indicator of academic and professional success.
 
TBR said:
Don't believe that's the motive at all. First, I don't believe our ranking hasn't substantively changed since adopting the policy. It's been 27 +/- 2 ever since I started paying attention. Second, makes sense SAT scores would increase as application numbers increase and admittance rates correspondingly decrease. Third, I believe this policy was a result of a book written by a Wake sociology professor on test scores.
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You are correct about us being ranked around 27 for quite some time. For some reason I had remembered us being ranked mid 30's about 5 years ago, but I was mistaken.
 
That would be an interesting study but would definitely be unpopular as you supposedly cannot study for an IQ test. Test prep companies would become obsolete, and thus this will never see the light of day.
 
Caturday said:
The best way to select students is to mandate IQ testing. For all the controversy, IQ is the best indicator of academic and professional success.
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This is blatantly untrue. Lots of studies look into this and IQ is not at the top.

Highest indicator of college success is what percentile you finish In your school class. SAT is actually one of the worst.
 
AnonymousDeac said:
This is blatantly untrue. Lots of studies look into this and IQ is not at the top.

Highest indicator of college success is what percentile you finish In your school class. SAT is actually one of the worst.
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Good job, I knew someone would bite.
 
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