Admissions Academy Blog

NYU changes test policy for Class of 2010

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on April 22nd, 2009 in Admissions
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Students applying for admission at NYU for the fall of 2010 now have multiple choices in satisfying the university’s standardized test requirement. In the past, applicants were required to submit scores from either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT with Writing, plus two SAT Subject Tests. Now, students can meet NYU’s testing requirement by choosing among the following five options:
* SAT Reasoning Test plus two SAT Subject Tests,
* ACT with Writing,
* SAT Reasoning Test plus two AP Tests,
* Three SAT Subject Tests (one in English Literature or History, one in Math or Science, and one of the student’s choice; Foreign Language tests will not be considered), or
* Three AP Tests (one in English, History, or Social Science; one in Math or Science; and one of the student’s choice; Foreign Language tests will not be considered).

NYU joins a growing number of colleges that are rethinking their standardized test policies. FairTest, a national organization that advocates for limited and appropriate uses of standardized testing, tracks colleges that deemphasize the SAT or ACT tests in admissions. Read more about NYU’s new testing policy here, including the rationale behind the switch.

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Rankings and College Selection

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on April 17th, 2009 in Admissions
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On April 15 and 16, admissions officers and professionals gathered at Wake Forest University for the “Rethinking Admissions” conference to discuss current research and best practices in selective college admissions. One of the most anticipated sessions matched Yale University’s admissions dean Jeffrey Brenzel, an outspoken critic of rankings such as those published by U.S. News, with Robert Morse, director of data research for U.S. News & World Report, and Richard Vedder of Ohio University, a collaborator on Forbes’ college rankings. Jacques Steinberg of the New York Times summarized the discourse well in his blog, and the official conference blog offers updates from its numerous sessions.

Despite their differences in opinion, the three men did find common ground. All indicated that rankings are here to stay, that the inherent complexity of choosing among creates a demand to help simplify the process. Professor Vedder went as far as saying that, “It is anti-American to be anti-rankings.”

Another point of agreement centered around the idea that rankings should be more personalized to each student. One strong complaint to current magazine rankings is that they support the myth that there are a set of “right” or “best” colleges for everyone. Many factors — size, location, academic programs, general education curriculum, diversity, gender balance, and cost, to name a few — influence whether a college is a good fit for a student. While choosing schools from magazine rankings can make the daunting college selection process easier, students should be aware that magazine rankings alone, at least not in the current form, do not provide enough information to determine their college lists.

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UC to Change Admissions for Class of 2012 Applicants

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on February 6th, 2009 in Admissions, Articles of Interest
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Yesterday, the University of California Board of Regents approved a proposal to change the freshman admissions and selection process for the fall of 2012. One of the most visible of changes is the fact that SAT Subject tests will no longer be required for admissions. UC has been the only public university system to require SAT Subject tests from applicants, and by eliminating this requirement, UC hopes to be able to attract more students who are academically qualified but may not have access to preparation for the SAT Subject exams.

Other notable changes are the elimination of the three current freshman pathways to eligibility: Eligibility in the Statewide Context, Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC), and Eligibility by Examination Alone. Instead, all freshman applicants who meet the following statewide criteria will be “entitled to review”:
* Have completed 15 “a-g” courses, with 11 of the 15 courses completed before 12th grade,
* Have earned at least a weighted GPA of 3.0 in “a-g” courses, and
* Have taken the SAT Reasoning test or ACT with Writing.

Rather than guarantee admission to all eligible applicants, as UC does now, the following students within the “entitled to review” pool will now be guaranteed admission to a UC:
* Students in the top 9% of all California high school graduates, and/or
* Students in the top 9% of their high school graduating class.

By eliminating the SAT Subject tests, and streamlining the current pathways to eligibility, UC hopes to be able to attract a more diverse group of qualified applicants. In particular, by expanding guaranteed admission from the current top 4% of a student’s graduating class to the top 9%, UC hopes to be able to increase access to underrepresented minority students. However, some minority groups have raised concerns that UC’s new admissions policy will decrease the representation of Asian American students on campus and do little to increase Latino and African American Students. See “Unintentional Whitening of U. of California?” from Inside HigherEd for more.

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