University of Minnesota Dropping SAT/ACT Tests as Admissions Requirement
“citing the challenge of scheduling tests during the pandemic”
The school says this is about the difficulty of scheduling tests due to the Coronavirus, but one has to wonder if it isn’t also about loosening requirements due to worries about low enrollment.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:
University of Minnesota drops SAT/ACT admissions requirement at Twin Cities campus
The University of Minnesota will drop the SAT/ACT requirement for admissions at its Twin Cities campus in fall 2021, citing the challenge of scheduling tests during the pandemic.
Fall 2021 undergraduate applicants will get to decide whether to include test scores in their application, and those who choose not to will not be at a disadvantage. With the move to test-optional, which was announced Tuesday, the U joins a growing list of colleges across the country that are phasing out standardized testing requirements.
“This is a national trend,” University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel said. “There is the combination of the questions about … the role of those tests and the fact that students can’t really take them right now.”
For now, the change will only apply to fall 2021 applicants. But the decision sets the stage for a potentially permanent move to a test-optional admissions process. University officials say they will consider a long-term change over the next six months.
The move at the U’s flagship campus comes just a week after its Duluth campus signaled it would drop test score requirements for prospective students starting with spring and fall 2021 applicants. Crookston was the first University of Minnesota campus to make the jump to test-optional in 2019.
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Comments
UM LIES.
It’s the MONEY they need.
If they wanted to loosen requirements, they could just loosen requirements, meaning they could lower the minimum scores.
No, this is about getting rid of the paper trail that can be used in court when they reject candidates with the wrong skin color, religion, or opinions.
and the fact that students can’t really take them right now.
Huh? The SAT isn’t a team sport. Students individually sit at tables and grind away. Need more “social distancing”? Move the tables further apart. Unless, of course, that whole “social distancing” thing is a crock.
It was always a crock. If it was effective, why also make everybody wear masks? If masks are effective, why also demand social distancing?
Here are the REAL reasons for dropping the testing requirements:
1. It will keep their average test scores (followed by US News and many others) from dropping precipitously as they lower their admission standards. They have to lower their standards to admit enough students to pay the tuition money they need. But the best applicants will still take the tests, and keep up the average scores.
2. They need to fill their quotas of people they’re not supposed to give preferences to. That includes both affirmative action admits and legacies and athletes. To meet these quotas without leaving an obvious paper trail, they need to eliminate any means of objective evaluation.
Take a look at the College Board Website. The non-profit that has a monopoly on the SATs. Considering the high school students many as young as 14 have no choice but to log onto it. I will let you draw your own conclusions. Frankly, it upset me to see that message in that forum. If Parents do not check they will miss it. I would like to hear other reactions. Maybe it will become completely irrelevant. One can only hope. https://www.collegeboard.org/
It’s unfortunate that they are forcing everyone to look at a political screed before they can use their website. Are they still asking students about their race, and awarding different numbers of points based on their race?
Take a look at the College Board Website. The non-profit that has a monopoly on the SATs. Considering the high school students many as young as 14 have no choice but to log onto it. I will let you draw your own conclusions. Frankly, it upset me to see that message in that forum. If Parents do not check they will miss it. I would like to hear other reactions. Maybe it will become completely irrelevant. One can only hope. https://www.collegeboard.org/