<p>Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) announced today that it is the first nationally-ranked science and engineering university to go SAT optional. The new policy will take effect for students applying for admission in fall 2008. Prospective students will have the option of either submitting SAT scores or submitting research papers, science projects or other indicators of academic achievement.</p>
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A faculty subcommittee began researching other SAT-optional colleges and universities in 2005 and found that the quality of applicants actually increased when the SAT requirement was dropped....</p>
<p>"Ultimately this policy will empower WPI applicants with the freedom to choose the option that will best demonstrate their academic ability and aptitude. This is particularly important to our efforts to attract greater numbers of female and minority applicants who may not have thought to apply to an institution like WPI."...</p>
<p>WPI will conduct a five-year pilot study to examine the academic performance of students who do not submit SAT scores, versus those who do.
<p>Kristin Tichenor, associate vice president for enrollment management at WPI, states that the SAT requirement reinforced the way “people misperceive that test scores drive the admissions process” and that many don’t even know what test scores are considered acceptable.</p>
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“The significance of the WPI announcement is that even a school with a heavy emphasis on quantitative skills — arguably among those best measured by the ACT/SAT — can do high-quality, competitive admissions without requiring test scores,” said Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. He called the announcement “a strong rebuttal to those who suggest test-optional policies only can work at small, liberal arts colleges.”...</p>
<p>Tichenor said ... her office was studying the students who are most successful at WPI, and finding little correlation to SAT scores. Meanwhile, some students with very high SAT scores were floundering. The conclusion the admissions team came to was that high school grades in strong math and science courses in high school were the key factor, not test scores. (The change will be in place for at least five years, while WPI will study the success rates of those who do and do not submit SAT scores.)...</p>
<p>Caren Scoropanos, a spokeswoman for the College Board, said ... that WPI’s move was “not being viewed with alarm.” ... Scoropanos said that the College Board believes that SAT scores “rounded out by grades” are the best way to predict college success. She said that grades are subjective and so the SAT allows colleges to see where students fit. With the SAT, she said, “colleges and universities are losing an important national measure.”