March 18, 2005
Early
Results from Mount Holyoke Study Reaffirm
SAT-Optional Policy
Addition
of Writing Section Considered Unlikely to Alter Policy
Mount
Holyoke College students who chose not to submit their SAT
scores with their applications are succeeding academically,
further bolstering the College’s contention that the
SAT is not essential to making good admission decisions and
has limited value as a predictor of an individual student’s
success.
Mount Holyoke in 2001 made the standardized test optional for admission, convinced
that the SAT had become a negative force in higher education, and committed
to casting a wider net for applicants with strong academic potential and exceptional
talents who may have been previously discouraged from applying because of their
performance on the SAT. The College is now in the final year of a three-year
study of the effects of that policy, made possible by a $290,000 grant from
the Mellon Foundation.
Interim results from that study show no meaningful difference in academic performance
between students who did not submit scores and those who did. The study shows
that there is a .1 difference between the aggregate grade point averages of
submitters and non-submitters. The difference is equivalent to approximately
one letter grade in one course over a year of study.
“The fact is that the SAT does not add enough value for us to require students
and their families to make such a large investment of time, energy, and money
in this single, high-stakes test,” said Jane B. Brown, vice president for
enrollment and college relations at Mount Holyoke. “We would encourage
high school students to focus instead on activities that promote long-term intellectual
and personal growth rather than on time-consuming and often expensive strategies
to raise their SAT scores.”
One early result from the study confirms what has been widely assumed: As
families’ income
levels rise, so too does the likelihood that the student has had the advantage
of SAT training classes or special tutoring. More than two-thirds of prospective
Mount Holyoke students from higher-income families took an SAT preparation
course, and one in three had private tutoring.
The new SAT that will be administered on March 12 has undergone a number
of changes, most significantly the addition of an essay-writing section.
Given
that Mount Holyoke has historically placed great emphasis on the caliber of
applicants’ writing and currently requires the submission of several
essays and graded writing samples, this new section is not likely to add to
the test’s value to our admission process, Brown said. In addition, “this
test is a formulaic writing exercise and is likely to be quite coachable,” she
said.
“We look at students as individuals and take into account their academic
records, their leadership abilities, and their performance over the course of
four years,” Brown said. The SAT-optional policy in fact is simply the
evolution of the College’s traditional holistic approach to the applicant
selection process that includes, among many components, a comprehensive review
of a student’s high school record, rigorous writing requirements including
several essays, and submission of a graded paper from a high school course.
Admission officers also look for less tangible qualities such as intellectual
curiosity, motivation, leadership, creativity, and a social conscience.
The ongoing study features six major elements, including an analysis of admission
data; a survey of inquirers, applicants, and matriculants; the tracking of
submitters’ and non-submitters’ academic performance; an in-depth
persistence study involving student volunteers; assessments of admission committee
ratings; and focus groups with guidance counselors.
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