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What If Colleges Used Only Test Scores to Fill Campuses?
Wall Street Journal ^ | June 23, 2019 | Douglas Belkin

Posted on 06/23/2019 5:55:34 AM PDT by reaganaut1

As Americans debate the roles of wealth, race and access in higher education, researchers at Georgetown University wondered: What would the nation’s most selective colleges and universities look like if they admitted students solely on the basis of SAT scores?

Their answer: The most prestigious U.S. campuses would be wealthier, whiter and more male—leading researchers to question the role standardized testing plays in a fair, comprehensive admissions process.

More than half the students now enrolled at the top 200 colleges and universities would lose their seats to students who performed better on the test—and the median SAT score would rise by 70 points to 1320, the study found.

The biggest losers in this reshuffling were black and Latino students, whose numbers would be cut nearly in half, to 11% of all students from 19%. The share of Asian students would slip to 10% from 11%. The principal winners were wealthy white male students, whose ranks would increase. But a large number of white students would lose their seats and be replaced with other white students.

“The affluent have extraordinary advantages in college admissions,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, which performed the analysis. Until 2005, Mr. Carnevale was a vice president at Educational Testing Service, which is a client of The College Board and administers the SAT.

Many elite colleges consider a range of factors such as grades, extracurricular activities and teacher recommendations in what they call a holistic admissions approach. They also try to build a diverse student body and might look for students from underrepresented ethnic or racial backgrounds or geographical regions.

The holistic admissions process has come under fire following the disclosure this spring of the biggest cheating ring federal prosecutors say they have ever seen.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: bellcurve; collegeadmissions; sat
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Admissions criteria should be judged by how well they predict graduation rates and college GPAs, not by the racial, gender, or socioeconomic mix they produce. I don't think SAT/ACT test scores alone should be used, because studies have shown that a combination of test scores and high school GPA better predicts college outcomes.

IQ is not evenly distributed by race or income, so neither are test scores. Reality does not go away because one ignores it.

1 posted on 06/23/2019 5:55:34 AM PDT by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1

Asians would lose share? That goes against everything I have read on this.


2 posted on 06/23/2019 5:57:15 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: reaganaut1
factors such as grades, extracurricular activities and teacher recommendations

and wether or not you have been guilty of wrong-think or said anything to hurt someone’s feelings.

3 posted on 06/23/2019 6:01:28 AM PDT by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: reaganaut1

I wonder what the best indicators are of future alumni donations? Legacies? Parental wealth? SAT/IQ with or without high school GPAs? Maybe high SAT and moderate high school GPA?


4 posted on 06/23/2019 6:01:44 AM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: reaganaut1

Well, there goes the football team...


5 posted on 06/23/2019 6:08:00 AM PDT by Clioman
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To: 9YearLurker

The SATs were originally conceived to level the field and discover hidden talent.


6 posted on 06/23/2019 6:08:07 AM PDT by Oldexpat (Jobs Not Mobs)
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To: reaganaut1
But a large number of white students would lose their seats and be replaced with other white students.

But wouldn't those white students get those seats that are now being given to unqualified minorities?

7 posted on 06/23/2019 6:08:09 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob ("Other People's Money" = The life blood of Liberalism)
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To: reaganaut1

unless you are going for engineering, law, or medicine,
Some variant on STEM discipline,
I just don’t think college is necessary any more.

The rest is “Finishing School” if you wish
Call it what it is...


8 posted on 06/23/2019 6:09:05 AM PDT by HangnJudge
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To: reaganaut1

Gotta keep da white man down.


9 posted on 06/23/2019 6:14:38 AM PDT by bk1000 (I stand with Trump)
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To: Clioman

Howard Cosell was right about sports teams forty five years ago.


10 posted on 06/23/2019 6:15:13 AM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: reaganaut1
IQ is not evenly distributed by race or income, so neither are test scores.

IQ is a test score.

11 posted on 06/23/2019 6:17:50 AM PDT by semimojo
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To: reaganaut1

Schools would be filled with successful test takers. Those those that have skills that do not show up on tests would be left out. Those with great insight and design would be left out.


12 posted on 06/23/2019 6:18:03 AM PDT by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: reaganaut1

Fair and unbiased competition??? What the hell is wrong with those people? That would be like prohibiting transgenders from competing as females in women’s sports.


13 posted on 06/23/2019 6:20:30 AM PDT by Bitman
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To: reaganaut1

So what are they suggesting? Take away any advantages of resources?

Wouldn’t the best model be to maximize resources be to match the best students with the best educational resources?


14 posted on 06/23/2019 6:21:00 AM PDT by School of Rational Thought
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To: reaganaut1

The SAT could discriminate against those who are not politically correct also.

I took the SAT in 1960. Several questions on the test were based on a narrow acceptance of a certain theory of evolution (now not pushed in 2019). I knew what answers the test makers wanted. But I left those answers blank.

I see that climate change questions would now have political answers, not scientific answers.

I see history books that are flat out wrong about the 1960s and 1970s.

I wonder, how much is the SAT now based on political correctness?


15 posted on 06/23/2019 6:26:07 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: reaganaut1

The SAT could discriminate against those who are not politically correct also.

I took the SAT in 1960. Several questions on the test were based on a narrow acceptance of a certain theory of evolution (now not pushed in 2019). I knew what answers the test makers wanted. But I left those answers blank.

I see that climate change questions would now have political answers, not scientific answers.

I see history books that are flat out wrong about the 1960s and 1970s.

I wonder, how much is the SAT now based on political correctness?


16 posted on 06/23/2019 6:26:07 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: HangnJudge
unless you are going for engineering, law, or medicine, Some variant on STEM discipline, I just don’t think college is necessary any more.

Not only not necessary, not helpful.

Student loan debt, loss of four years that otherwise could be put to good use, and indoctrination with bad mental health habits such as habitual resentment and a victim mentality, are all handicaps that would best be avoided.

17 posted on 06/23/2019 6:28:02 AM PDT by T Ruth (Mohammedanism shall be destroyed.)
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To: reaganaut1

I couldn’t read the article at wsj behind the pay wall.

Here is the study to which they refer:

https://1gyhoq479ufd3yna29x7ubjn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/CEW-SAT-only-Admission.pdf


18 posted on 06/23/2019 6:28:50 AM PDT by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: HangnJudge
unless you are going for engineering, law, or medicine, Some variant on STEM discipline, I just don’t think college is necessary any more. The rest is “Finishing School” if you wish Call it what it is...

Thank You! I don't consider half of what's taught to even be a valid field of study.
19 posted on 06/23/2019 6:28:54 AM PDT by BikerJoe
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To: semimojo
That's the flaw of the SAT/ACT testing process. You'd end up with highly intelligent people in college who may have nothing more than a third-grade education. That explains why so many successful people in this country are totally ignorant.

Testing for subject matter seems more relevant than testing for intelligence in the college admissions process. Who cares if someone has an IQ of 150 if they can't even tell you how many amendments are in the Bill of Rights?

20 posted on 06/23/2019 6:29:49 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." -- Frederick Douglass)
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