The SAT Tells Us Who is Wealthy, But Not Who’ll Do Well in College
June 19, 2007
From Inside Higher Education, come this report of a new study on the limitations of the SAT for predicting success in college, even while SAT scores are highly correlated with socio-economic status.
From the article:
A major study released Monday by the University of California suggests that high school grades may be good at predicting not only first-year college performance, as commonly believed, but performance throughout four undergraduate years. The same study suggests that the SAT adds little predictive value to admissions decisions and is hindered by a high link between SAT scores and socioeconomic status — a link not present for high school grades.
And further, the study finds that all of the information admissions officers currently have is of limited value, and accounts for only 30 percent of the grade variance in colleges — leaving 70 percent of the variance unexplained.
Such studies would certainly seem to open the door to admissions reviews that take into account a broader range of life experiences and strengths. Peter Sacks writes eloquently of students whose test scores underestimated their potential as scholars in his new book, Tearing Down the Gates.
