TOWSON Md.
Goucher College
has dropped the requirement that applicants submit SAT
scores, the second four-year institution in Maryland
to do so.
Sanford J. Ungar, president of the small, private liberal
arts college, said Goucher’s decision to experiment with optional SAT
scores was influenced by the positive experiences of other colleges.
“The schools that have already done this have found
that their applicant pool tends grow larger, be more diverse and to give them
at least as good a class as they’ve had before,” he said.
Among those schools is Salisbury University. Officials there
said last week that early results suggest the policy is boosting interest in
the school from qualified applicants.
A growing body of research has shown that scores on
standardized tests, including the SAT and
ACT, are no better at predicting success in college than high school grades and
achievement tests in individual subjects.
A study published in June of students admitted to the
University of California system found that SAT
scores “add little if any” predictive information to high school
grades, said Saul Geiser, a co-author of the report.
