George Mason Drops SAT for High Achievers

<p><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14488682/from/RS.3/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14488682/from/RS.3/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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High school seniors with at least a 3.5 grade-point average and who are in the top 20 percent of their class won't have to submit an SAT or ACT score with their application beginning this year, said dean of admissions Andrew Flagel.</p>

<p>The school, after a three-year review, concluded that SAT scores are a poor indicator of collegiate success for high-achieving high school students.

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<p>Interesting approach. I've always felt that SAT scores could be a good predictor under some circumstances, but may not add much differentiation when grades and scores are high. To cite an extreme example, at Harvard, I'd guess that SATs are a poor predictor of academic success. At a school with a wide range of scores and great variations in student accomplishment, though, they might work better..</p>

<p>Hmm...I've always considered the SAT as one of the few standardized indicators of "achievement." High school difficulty varies from one school to another, so I think they may soon regret their decision. Of course, this is all relative and pure speculation.</p>

<p>SAT is hardly a measure of "achievement." You haven't "achieved" anything when taking the SAT other than having completed it. You can earn a good score on it... and that will say something important, but you can't consider it just as a measure of "achievement."</p>

<p>I think this is fair, yes GPA's do vary from school to school, but these guys aren't saying they will reject anyone under 3.5 and accept everyone over 3.5, a brilliant score on the SAT and a 3.3 GPA is still going to make you competitve... or at least that's how I read this.</p>

<p>Yes, that's why I put it in quotations. But that is apparently how College Board describes it...or described it..</p>

<p>I believe it should be 3.5+ in top 5 or 10%. 20%... sheesh...</p>