Topic: Should SCSU require SAT/ACT for admission? Specific Purpose: To explain other alternatives that SCSU can use for their admissions requirements. Introduction I. Attention-getter: As I was a junior in high school taking my ACT, I thought to myself do I really have to take a test that is going to determine whether or not I get into college? I have always been an “A” student, however standardized tests have always failed me. II. Thesis: Saint Cloud State University should no longer have the SAT/ACT scores as a part of their admissions requirements because there are other ways to determine a student’s success. III. Preview: I will discuss other factors that SCSU can look at when admitting a new student including looking at students’ high school academic record, making the ACT/SAT …show more content…
Body I. SCSU admission team can look at a student’s high school academic record for a deciding factor on recruiting a new student. A. SCSU can look at the grades that students got while they were in high school. 1. According to Joseph Soares in his book, SAT Wars: The Case For, Test- Optional College Admissions published in 2015, he stated, “Grades in school still outperform standardized tests” (Soares 12). 2. SCSU can check the grades that students have accumulated throughout their high school years. B. Also the admissions team can look at on how these students did on standardized tests in high school. 1. The MCA’s including reading, writing, science, and math. 2. They can look at the scores of each of these tests and see what category their scores fall under. Transition: Now that I have explained some factors SCSU can look at while recruiting students’, I am going to introduce another solution. II. Making the ACT/SAT optional is another thing that the SCSU admissions team can do. A. Students could decide whether or not they want to take the
Any diverse group of organisms will not respond identically to a standard test; some will respond positively, and some will respond negatively. The student population of the United States is an extremely varied group, and students will respond differently to the same "standard" test. The format of the current standardized test, all multiple-choice questions, does not allow for variables among the test takers. In fact, the test attempts to erase all the variables and create a uniform ...
In our undergraduate admission system, fully 110 points out of 150 are given for academic factors including grades, test scores, and curriculum. We only count 12 points for test scores, but that is because we value high school grades to a much greater extent--- they can earn up to 80 points. We consider many other factors as well. Race is one of those, but a student who is socioeconomically disadvantaged also can earn 20 points (students cannot earn 20 points for both factors, however). Geographic diversity is also important, and a student from Michigan’s upper peninsula, for example, earns 16 points.
"Former Bates College Dean of Admissions, William Hiss, said that intelligence is so complex, varied, and multifaceted that “no standardized testing system can be expected to capture it”(Westlund). Throughout the years standardized testing has changed its purpose and not for the better. In the late 1930s, the goal of taking standardized test was to award scholarships to "diamond in the rough" students (Westlund). Currently, the whole idea of taking the SAT or ACT is getting admitted into a college. Standardized test should not be a deciding factor of being admitted into a college.
So, using these long multiple choice exams are what college’s consider to be a reflection of a student’s grades during their first year at college. The test maker itself explains that grade point averages during high school paint a better picture than their tests ("The ACT: Biased, Inaccurate, and Misused" 1). College’s use these standardized tests as a quick measure of ability. However, a test cannot explo...
Every year there are thousands of students planning and tracking their goals. Seniors in high school are faced with the tough challenge, while the Juniors are left to worry another year. Finally, the point comes a student’s life where they must make one of the most important decisions in their educational lifetime. That choice is, which college to attend, and it is a very scrutinous process. Two of such colleges are the University of Iowa and St. Ambrose University, and although similarities like majors and minors are evident, there are many other differences including student life.
Today, in the United States, standardized tests are administered every year by states to their Kindergarten-12th grade public school students. Different states place different weight on their standardized testing results where some states differ their funding based on results and annual improvement, whereas other states allow schools to simply gauge where their students are scoring relative to other schools in the state. These tests, however, are only standardized within one state. One of the few tests standardized throughout the entire country is the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, administered by College Board and required by, “More than 800 of the nation’s colleges and universities,” (Comras, 1984). This test will be the standardized test focused on in this paper. While standardized testing is that, standardized, and enables the comparison of one student to another, the meaning of the score does not equate to a test of intelligence. Therefore, while standardized testing should be applied in the education system, it needs to be more indicative of the material learned in school and should hold less weight than it currently does in the college admissions process.
The college application process is one of the hardest parts of a high school career.
Lowell high school was known as the best public high school in Mississippi. Lowell prepared its students for college level work. It was known as a very academic competitive school that is hard to get into. For admission the school asked to see students’ standardized test scores as well as their middle school GPA. They took both the standardized test scores and middle school GPA and they made a point system which created a student average. If the students received 69 points, then the school would accept that student right away if the student received anything lower than 69 points, then that student would have to wait until all students with 69 points were
Although the SAT seems like a good measure and is used by many colleges and universities, it is not a good way to measure a student's ability and should be abolished because it has some problems. The ideas that show the problems are the not-balance fact between black students and white students that have taken the SAT, the fact that shows that a student's parent's income affects a student's SAT score, the fact about the incorrectness of the SAT scores that some students took in October 2005, and about the score which does not measure someone's ability or future.
Many of the changes that will be implemented into the SAT contain faults and could cause in a negative impact towards the academic career of students across the nation. Even though College Board tried to make the SAT funds a lot cheaper, they will always be considered a wealth test because students who have money tend to get better scores. Overall, student’s ability of aptitude in reasoning skills will decline because of the revision of the SAT.
need to make sure they meet the university's requirements on the SAT and/or the ACT. However,
One of the central struggles among college students today is that they are required to compete against one another to appear exceptional. In frequent cases, students are trying so vigorously to appear favorable on paper in order to be accepted into a prestigious school or to be hired for a higher-paying job. Additionally, students are required
While the focus used to be on gaining knowledge to become educated, it has changed to gaining knowledge in order to attend college. This puts pressure on grades and standardized tests, for they are important factors contributing towards college acceptance. Standardized tests were originally created with positive intentions but now have a corrupt reputation; the most popular tests, the SAT and the ACT, may have the worst status of all. To investigate the purpose of their development, Time Magazine published an informative article in which the author states, “The SAT is geared toward testing logic, while the ACT is considered more a test of accumulated knowledge” (Fletcher 2). With this in mind, it seems as though the tests have beneficial uses. However, colleges use these scores to rank their students based on knowledge and ability to focus for long periods of time. Some colleges use the scores as a determining factor for admission while others use them to decide the amount of scholarships a student may receive. Between grades and standardized tests, students are being labelled based on numbers, and the need for good grades and high test scores pushes students into survival mode. Schools have started valuing grades and standardized test scores over genuine education, and students have adapted by plagiarizing assignments, memorizing material, and cheating on
William Hiss, Bates College former dean of admissions explains through a study that those college applicants who did not submit their standardized test scores had marginally smaller average GPAs graduation rates than those who did submit their test scores. Hiss states that “the nonsubmitters are doing fine in terms of their graduation rates and GPAs, and significantly outperforming their standardized testing” (Westervelt). Thomas Rochon, the president of Ithaca College and a former executive director of the GRE testing program confirms this observation, adding, “Our first realization was that test scores add relatively little to our ability to predict the success of our students” (Strauss). In becoming conscious of this reality, Ithaca admissions officers decided to also opt out of requiring standardized test scores in applications. More and more schools are following the footsteps of Bates and Ithaca in doing away with obligatory standardized test scores because they feel the tests do not truly depict the academic potential of college-bound
The need for an indicator of academic preparation and college placement yielded the American College Testing. Since the early 1900’s, standardized college admission test has been the forefront of getting into college. Student success in college has used standardized testing as an effective tool for predicting success. Various studies have shown the importance of ACT testing as being a reliable source in predicting a student’s success. However, other studies have shown the lack of importance and ineffective indicators that come with standardized testing. Examining the history, research studies, pros and the cons of the standardized testing will conclude of why some colleges and post-secondary education systems are moving away from this type of testing just as they adopted it.