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BOB HIRSHON (host):
Colleges toss the SAT….I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
‘Tis the season…for college applications. And while many students are fretting about their SAT scores, others haven’t taken the test at all. That’s because many colleges are becoming skeptical of high-stakes standardized tests. Jane Brown is the vice president for Enrollment and College Relations at Mount Holyoke College, where the tests have been optional since 2001.
JANE BROWN (MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE):
We wanted to send the message that their time would be better spent engaged in activities that would actually help them prepare for college and probably would be more likely to be correlated with success in college. 8
HIRSHON:
She says the data bear this out: students who opted not to submit standardized test scores were just as successful as those who submitted test scores. One quarter of liberal arts colleges around the country now make standardized tests optional. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.