Study questions value of SAT, ACT scores to universities

No magic formula exists for successful college applicants, but a national study released last week questions the usefulness of required college entrance exams.

And due to limited access to resources for test preparation, students from low-income communities and families might be at a disadvantage to score well on standardized tests.

The study of nearly 123,000 college students at 33 institutions nationwide found little difference in cumulative GPA and graduation rates between applicants who did and did not submit standardized test scores.

The two standardized college entrance exams in the United States, the SAT and the ACT, purport to measure the ability of students to achieve in college, and UNC applicants are required to take at least one of the two.

Ashley Memory, senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions, said UNC’s applications are need-blind, and the office considers many factors, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, admissions essays and test scores.

“No student is ever admitted or not on the basis of a single number. Period,” Memory said. “All those factors are important, but the bottom line is we must have belief they will succeed when they come to Carolina.”

Kyle Brazile, another senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions at UNC, said the University considers applicants’ contributions to their communities.

High school applicants who work full-time jobs should not feel disadvantaged in the application process — work experience can demonstrate community impact, he said.

Both the ACT and the College Board, which provides the SAT, released statements saying a combination of high school grades and standardized test scores is the best predictor of college success.

But the national study’s lead investigator, William Hiss, former dean of admissions and financial aid at Bates College in Maine, said universities’ applicant pools suffer when students with strong high school records but low test scores are discouraged from applying to schools with high average test scores.

“We don’t have the luxury as a country to throw away a reasonable percentage of student talent,” he said.

At the 33 schools considered in the study, which was composed of schools that either don’t require test scores or have an automatic admission policy, approximately 30 percent of students did not submit their test scores, or their scores were not considered in the admissions process.

The study showed first generation college students, minority students, women, Pell Grant recipients and students with learning disabilities were more likely not to have submitted test scores.

Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, criticized the SAT and ACT for being measures of accumulated opportunity.

“Just like anything in life, the more you practice with the guidance of skilled coaches, the better you are,” he said. “When admissions offices and scholarship agencies put heavy weight on the SAT in determining who to admit and who to give scholarships to, they end up reinforcing the advantage of the most well-to-do children in our society.”

In 2013, the SAT scores of students in North Carolina had a positive correlation with family income levels. A little more than half of students taking the test didn’t report their family’s income.

The trend in the state is echoed in national numbers .

Ed Colby, ACT spokesman, said the ACT is aware of a similar correlation among its test-takers and is preparing a report about students from low-income backgrounds to be released this spring.

The correlation does not suggest the exam itself is unfair, but that schools have unequal resources to prepare students, he said.

“Unfortunately, an awful lot of low-income students attend high schools that aren’t at the highest quality,” Colby said.

In 2008, Wake Forest University, which participated in Hiss’ study, adopted a test-optional admissions policy based on studies that suggested standardized test scores are not accurate predictors of success.

“By making the SAT and ACT optional, we hope to broaden the applicant pool and increase access at Wake Forest for groups of students who are currently underrepresented at selective universities,” said Martha Allman, WFU director of admissions, in a 2008 statement.

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