‘The Story Behind the SAT Overhaul’

I’m not 100% sure I like the new SAT format, though it’s pretty clear the old one wasn’t great. I’ll reserve judgment until I can take a look at a few sample tests.

But one particular passage did catch my eye.

Todd Balf, writing for the New York Times:

A report released last month by William C. Hiss, a former dean of admissions at Bates College, and Valerie W. Franks, a former Bates assistant dean of admissions, supports Wake Forest’s experience. They reviewed 33 colleges and universities that did not require SAT or A.C.T. scores and found no significant difference in college G.P.A. or graduation rates between those who had submitted tests and those who had not. Specifically, they saw that students with good high-school grades did well in college, even if they had weak SAT scores. But students with weaker high-school grades — even with strong SATs — did less well in college. Those who didn’t submit SATs were more likely to be minority students, women, Pell grant recipients or the first in their families to go to college.

So…college GPA and graduation rates correlate with high school GPA, that’s nice. Do any of these correlate with life happiness or financial success or anything that, you know, might actually matter?