University of California President Richard Atkinson proposed this week that the UC system end the requirement of SAT I scores as part of its admissions process.
This proposal was made during a speech given Sunday to the American Council on Education, and if all runs as planned, could be in effect as early as Fall 2003, university officials said.
The idea is the first of its kind in a large university system but has already been instituted in smaller colleges such as Bates College and Mount Holyoke College.
University of California spokesman Charles McFadden said Atkinson feels the Scholastic Aptitude Test I, or SAT as it is commonly known, does not accurately measure the academic aspects the university seeks in its applicants.
“He feels that the university ought to have a standardized test on mastering high school coursework rather than measuring academic potential, as the SAT I does,” McFadden said.
Atkinson”s proposal also requests that the UC system which includes the University of California at Los Angeles and UC Berkeley create a standardized test that would eventually replace the SAT I.
“He is advocating the University of California develop its own standardized test to better measure a students mastery of knowledge,” McFadden said.
Until the time that the new test would be implemented, the proposal recommends that the UC system continue to require the SAT II in its admissions process.
After having submitted his proposal, Atkinson is awaiting consideration by the UC system”s academic council. Pending approval there, the proposal will be voted upon by the University of California Board of Regents for a final administrative decision.
University of Michigan spokeswoman Julie Peterson said despite the lead that Atkinson has taken to revamp the UC system”s admissions process, the University has no plans to follow in his footsteps.
“We do not have any plans at this time to eliminate the SAT or ACT in admissions,” she said.
Peterson also added that according to the point system used by the University”s Office of Admissions, students can only earn up to 12 points for their standardized test scores but they can earn up to 80 points for their high school grades and college preparatory classes. In the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, the total number of points a student can earn is 150 but an applicant does not have to earn all the points in order to gain admission.
“These test scores have the proper amount of consideration in the admissions process,” Peterson added.
Jill Piker, a senior guidance counselor at Ann Arbor Huron High School, said the college admissions tests have accurately represented her students overall academic abilities and college preparation but that there are always student whose true ability are misrepresented by their scores.
“There are always going to be exceptions to the rule, but for the most part the tests do represent college readiness,” Piker said. “I”d like to think that these test sores are one piece of the admissions and not the deciding factor.”