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University of California system eliminates SAT and ACT admission requirements

DanteFox

Member

In a decision that could reshape the nation’s college admissions process, University of California regents unanimously voted Thursday to suspend SAT and ACT testing requirements through 2024 and eliminate them for California students by 2025.

The action by the nation’s premier public university system could mark a turning point in the long-running debate over whether the standardized tests unfairly discriminate against disadvantaged students or provide a useful tool to evaluate college applicants.

Under the plan, standardized test results will be optional on applications for the next two years and then eliminated for California students in Years 3 and 4. By fall 2025, the UC system is aiming to have its own assessment. If none is developed by then, the university will drop the SAT and ACT tests entirely for California students and evaluate them using high school grades and a dozen other factors in its comprehensive review system.

Critics say the SAT and ACT are heavily influenced by race, income and parental education levels; question the exams’ value in predicting college success; and express concern about inequitable access to test prep. Those concerns have prompted more than 1,000 colleges and universities to drop the testing requirement. A lawsuit against the UC system also calls for the requirement to be dropped.

But the College Board and ACT strongly assert that their tests are not biased and that they reflect existing inequities in access to quality education. They also say that standardized tests offer a uniform and helpful yardstick for use, in tandem with grades, in assessing students in high schools across the country.

Several regents praised Napolitano for striking a compromise between the factions.

“She did an excellent job threading the needle,” said Vice Chair Cecilia Estolano, who called the SAT a “racist test.”


But some members of the powerful UC Academic Senate, which sets admission standards, said they were disheartened by what they saw as disregard of their research report on standardized testing, which Napolitano requested in 2018.

In what researchers called surprising findings, the Academic Senate’s review found that the SAT helps disadvantaged students gain entry to the selective UC system. That’s because the way UC uses standardized test scores substantially corrects for bias by weighting them less heavily than grades and considering them as only one of many factors in the review process. Campuses adjust for socioeconomic differences and admit disadvantaged students with lower test scores compared with more advantaged peers.

The task force recommended that the university system keep the SAT and ACT for now while researching alternatives, such as going test-optional or developing UC’s own assessment. That report was backed by the Senate assembly, made up of faculty leaders and campus representatives, on a 51-0 vote, with one abstention.

Other researchers, however, have criticized the task force’s findings as erroneous and ill-founded in rejecting proposals to replace the SAT and ACT with the K-12 assessment.

Eddie Comeaux, a UC Riverside professor who heads the Senate’s committee on admission standards and co-chaired the testing task force, said politics and public perceptions more than data appeared to drive the decision to a preordained conclusion.

Pretty interesting. Who knows what the college admissions landscape will look like in five or ten years. I personally think there are legitimate concerns regarding how the SAT benefits students who can afford expensive test prep courses, but racist? Not seeing it, bro. I personally feel that tests like the SAT and GRE have allowed me to stand out, as my grades were fairly lackluster. I otherwise might not have been admitted to the schools I was.
 
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At the end of the day, you need people who are competent at their jobs, providing those services. Lets hope that moves like this dont compromise that outcome.
 

Papa

Banned
that is so stupid. they're going to likely end up with even greater first year drop out rates as they bring in more less qualified students then they'll say THAT is racist and then drop grades altogether.

So then lower the bar further... duh.

No child left behind.
 

Estellex

Member
Nice. Let's have unqualified people take on jobs they can't handle, and California will really be a shithole then.

Are there studies that show people with higher academic performance tend to be better employees? I fucked around in school and was able to learn on the job. I reckoned most jobs can be taught through their training process.
 
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I am no fan of using SATs or ACTs as bars of entry into a college but the college better offer up shit tier studies to compensate for the unprepared students they will take on. Which begs the question why are the high schools not teaching properly.
 

llien

Member

TheMan

Member
Interesting experiment I guess. If they come up with an alternative entrance exam, comparing test performance to school performance (vs how the act/sat stacked up) will be neat to see.

Using grades is probably not the best metric either since they can be unfairly inflated or deflated. I wonder that their dozen other metrics are...
 

Super Mario

Banned
Thank god. We are one step closer to removing any type of merit. Let's just let everyone in who is not a white man, and have the government pay for everyone. Then we can truly be a diverse and educated society.

I get the criticisms of the test, and also don't agree that they are the be-all, end-all. However, let's be real about what is going on here. The third word of the title told you all you need to know.
 

TheUsual

Gold Member
that is so stupid. they're going to likely end up with even greater first year drop out rates as they bring in more less qualified students then they'll say THAT is racist and then drop grades altogether.
More drops outs?! More like the school making more money!
 
W

Whataborman

Unconfirmed Member
I disagree with their reasoning, i.e. "the SAT and ACT are heavily influenced by race, income and parental education levels" but fully agree with doing away with the SAT and ACT.

College admission should be based solely on your GPA (weighted for classes taken), not SAT/ACT scores or extracurricular activities.
 
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It's Jeff

Banned
Fascinating that Asians have 60 percent of the top math scores on a racist test.

These questions must be quite specific to single out two minority groups exclusively. As a matter of fact, this seems like an effort to reduce the advantage that one minority group has to promote other larger electorate groups.

I mean, one of those groups studies their asses off day and night because culturally, their parents prioritize that. The test results correlate with that.

But, you know. That racism. All meaningful metrics point to the contrary, but we all know it's really that fucking racism.

Racism.
 
Fascinating that Asians have 60 percent of the top math scores on a racist test.

These questions must be quite specific to single out two minority groups exclusively. As a matter of fact, this seems like an effort to reduce the advantage that one minority group has to promote other larger electorate groups.

I mean, one of those groups studies their asses off day and night because culturally, their parents prioritize that. The test results correlate with that.

But, you know. That racism. All meaningful metrics point to the contrary, but we all know it's really that fucking racism.

Racism.
Performance metrics are a product of white colonialism. Didn't you know IQ tests are racist, too? JordanN JordanN knows.
 

Ownage

Member
As I had great GPA and extracurricular CV, but mediocre SATs, I support the ending of standardized testing. It does little to show the potential learning and capacity for success of many students.
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
If you can make it through a California college without a decent standardized testing score is the problem the standardized test or is it the college? Hmm.

I suspect they're going to have to lower their standards for successful course completion if they expect these people to complete degree programs.

It will make for an interesting case study either way. I look forward to reviewing the results should I live long enough.
 
Will colleges in California start looking closer at high-school and middle-school performance now? Will public-school teachers now have even more pressure on them to give children a good grade (or else you're stealing his/her future education)?

I wonder what curriculum changes we'll see in the next few years from this.

I wonder if poor grades in compulsory 'social sensitivity studies' in 10th and 11th grade will exclude certain kids from certain California colleges.

Indoctrination from grade school through university. Truly inspirational.

Sugoiiiii, t's just like in my Philip K Dick novels. UwU
 

entremet

Member
The UC system is interesting since they view themselves as very elite schools (some are very good), yet are publically funded.

I know there's the CSU system as well, which is a lower rung below them. But they painted themselves in a corner by trying to be both elite and public.

Also, I don't think this will hurt admissions overall. However, Asian Americans, will be hurt the most. Same with the Harvard case which basically allowed Harvard to have AA for white people--legacies.

The issue with these colleges as that they have incentives to be elite.

Stanford has become more prestigious of the years, but they aren't increasing headcount at all. It's actually better for them, from a business perspective, to limit their student headcount. These are perverse incentives, though.
 
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So, basically, if you want higher education than what California provides, after High School, then travel outside of California.
This state is a joke and they continue to do stupid shit behind the scenes, while using the pandemic as a curtain.
 

entremet

Member
So, basically, if you want higher education than what California provides, after High School, then travel outside of California.
This state is a joke and they continue to do stupid shit behind the scenes, while using the pandemic as a curtain.
Eh, this is concern trolling. The UC system is won't become garbage because of SAT/ACT scores. Come on, now lol.
 

cryptoadam

Banned
Gotta find a way to keep bilking people for that 56K a year for online classes.

Also since they want "free" education they need more students. And I am sure under the DNC scheme you probably get double or triple for any POC you admit. More students = more money.

So I have to ask lets say they get rid of these SAT/ACT's and use another metric and these minorties still don't meet those metrics then whats the next step and how do they blame it on racisim?
 
How is the SAT a racist test?

Does it ask you if you hate other people? I don't remember studying for the Racism portion of the SATs.

Also...I picked the wrong decade to be born. Coulda lived my UCLA dream!
 

DanteFox

Member
Think about this aspect:


Very true. A lot of this debate ignores the fact that grades are not 100% purely objective, especially grades that weigh factors like class participation or opinion essays. Standardized tests allow a lot of people to shine who otherwise would not.
 
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