GW University Ends Admission Tests Requirement
Admission tests will no longer be required when most students fill out applications for George Washington University.
The private university announced that admission tests will no longer be a criteria upon which most potential students will be accepted or rejected.
The university made the announcement on its website on Monday.
“The George Washington University will no longer require most undergraduate applicants to submit SAT or ACT test scores, effective Aug. 1.”
Instead of admission tests, George Washington University will focus more on “high school coursework and grades.”
The decision came after the Task Force on Access and Success, a team of specialists who were charged with finding new ways of encouraging college attendance and support “lower-income GW students,” presented recommendations that high school performance as a predictor of college performance was good enough.
I think I might reapply, just for fun. @wusa9 GW University scraps ACT, SAT requirement for applicants – http://t.co/mMNBeabuhk
— Greg Cohen (@Greg_Cohen) July 28, 2015
George Washington University’s Dean of Admissions, Karen Stroud Felton, said the university does not want to turn potentially successful students away just because of their standardized admission tests scores.
“Although we have long employed a holistic application review process, we had concerns that students who could be successful at GW felt discouraged from applying if their scores were not as strong as their high school performance,” the Washington Post quoted her as saying.
The new policy on the SAT and ACT admission tests allow those who believe their admission test scores truly reflect their potential to submit their scores if they wish, but will not be turned down if they don’t.
While all that sounds good, George Washington University did state that there would be exceptions to this admission tests policy.
“The university’s new admissions policy will include exceptions for homeschooled applicants, students from high schools that only provide narrative evaluation of students, college athletes, and students applying for the seven-year B.A./M.D. program.”
According to the Washington Post, George Washington University is not the only university that has made dreadful admission tests optional for prospective students. Over a hundred other universities already have policies that make admission tests optional, including Wesleyan and American universities, which currently rank 15th and 71st — respectively — on U.S. News and World Report‘s college ranking.
The National Center for Fair and Open Testing posted a timeline of universities that have similar policies for admission tests. According to the timeline, George Washington University joins two other universities, Drake and Warren Wilson universities, in applying an test-optional policy.
Thank goodness we're starting to see the flaws. "George Washington University Drops Sat and Act Scores for Applicants http://t.co/KdBGAygYVC
— Christina Collins (@Doc_CCollins) July 28, 2015
What was your SAT or ACT score when you last took it? And what do you think about admission tests and their use in college admissions?
[Photo by Mike Lawrie / Getty Images]
