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BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE)— A top University of California academic committee proposed the development of new achievement-based admissions tests Wednesday, moving the university closer to fulfilling UC President Richard Atkinson’s call to eliminate the SAT I. A three-hour core achievement exam and two one-hour subject exams were recommended by the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, which is responsible for undergraduate admissions policies, to replace present admissions tests. The core exam would be composed of a mathematics section and a language section with a writing sample. The subject exams would test students on UC admission requirements such as history and laboratory science. Current tests required for UC admission are the SAT I or ACT and the three-test SAT II composite. Seventy-three percent of UC applicants take the SAT, 25 percent take both the SAT and ACT and 2 percent take the ACT alone. The call for an achievement-based test departs from the current aptitude-based SAT I. Long held as a “gold standard” of admissions tests, the SAT I’s reputation for predicting student potential is “largely a phantom,” the panel’s report concluded. Although aptitude tests have value in predicting freshman GPAs, the committee found the SAT II appears to be a better indicator of future performance than the SAT I. The best predictor, however, is high school GPA. -Daily Californian |
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