The Return of the SAT: A way to demonstrate excellence

We have a friend who works at UCLA.  She has a friend who works in admissions.  UCLA had nearly 150,000 applicants.   “Iny mini mini moe”.  That’s the unofficial response an admissions decision maker told our friend regarding how they choose who gets admitted.

This DOES NOT HELP those from Connecticut,

Dartmouth’s recent decision to bring back the SAT stems from the following facts:

1. Grade inflation is completely out of control.   Parents – unwittingly – believe that their child’s high GPA is exceptional.  It’s not.  From Forbes: America’s high schools have just endured a decade of dramatic grade inflation, according to a new study from ACT. This coincided with a decade of declining academic achievement, raising hard questions for those concerned about instructional rigor, inflated graduation rates, and the integrity of selective college admissions.
2. Determining who is “better” at activities ranges from highly subjective to absurd.   The all state trumpet player versus the community service star versus the all-conference soccer player…. subjective.  Absurd – how to judge the student who works at the family restaurant answering phones because her parents do not speak English well (this was one of my students) and therefore cannot do after-school activities versus a kid who “checks the box” of various clubs
3. All other criteria are subjective: essays/recommendations

To be clear, test-optional is fine but those who do well on the SAT have a “weapon in their admissions arsenal” that can be used to demonstrate excellence.

Connecticut students generally do very well on standardized tests against students across the nation.

Let your student-child show their stuff.