Colleges Debate SAT Changes

The majority of colleges and universities in the United States consider the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) an essential indicator of academic skill. Since grades may be inflated or deflated according to school systems, most admissions officers depend on the SAT for a stable, standardized view of applicants' performance. A drop in SAT scores among the first batch of students to take the new test, however, has some people wondering if the SAT is still the best way to compare high school students.

According to Collegeboard.com, over two million students take the SAT each year. Historically the SAT has consisted of two parts-a verbal and math section each worth 800 points. Changes implemented in 2006 added a writing section to the test and altered the math and verbal sections. The total score of the test was increased from 1600 to 2400 points.

"We wanted it to be more closely reflective of the high school curriculum and we also wanted to add writing which is a critical skill for not only success in college but also in the work force and beyond," said Karen Scoropanos, spokesperson for CollegeBoard.

According to Scoropanos, the new SAT's verbal section, now called "critical reading," has longer reading passages and does not contain any analogy questions. The math section was also altered and now includes higher-level questions, Scoropanos said.

It is unclear as to whether these changes caused the recent drop in SAT scores, but a coinciding drop the overall score average has caused both students and colleges to debate whether the new changes are for the better.

According to a story in the Washington Post, "on the nine campuses of the University of California, the largest user of the SAT, average scores declined by 15 points." Other schools have also reported lower scores, such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University and George Washington University, with scores falling by 12, 7, and 10 points respectively, according to the Washington Post.

CollegeBoard reported a smaller drop in scores. A report on the 2006 SAT scores on the CollegeBoard web site said, "based on scores through the January 2006 administration, we are currently estimating a decline of 4-5 points across the Critical Reading and Math sections combined, as compared to last year's full cohort. Once scores from the April 2006 test are analyzed and included, we expect that 2006 cohort score averages could show a small additional decline."

CollegeBoard suggests that a fall in scores could be due to the recent decline in students who retake the test and raise their scores.

Students have demonstrated mixed reactions to the new SAT. Most complaints center on the new writing section and the test's length. Formerly 3 hours long, the new SAT test now takes an extra 35 minutes to complete.

Esther Lee, a senior at Wilton High School who will attend Villanova University this fall, took both the old and new SAT. Lee, who immigrated to the United States from Korea and speaks English as a second language, liked the new SAT because it didn't include analogies, which she found difficult given her foreign background.

"I liked the new [SAT] better because it didn't have the analogies ... but also found it harder because it's so long and exhausting and I ran out of time on my essays," Lee said.

Nina Chandra is also a senior at Wilton High who took both the new and old SATs. Chandra, who plans to attend the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania next fall, said she "liked the old one better length-wise. It wasn't as strenuous and since it was only about 3 hours long, you didn't lose all you concentration. Also, I liked analogies which the new SAT doesn't have."

Despite her complaints about the length, Chandra said that she scored higher on the new SAT.

"I personally like the new writing section. I think that, especially for [Wilton High School students], it's a really easy way to boost your score since everyone at WHS has been taught to write really well compared to the national standard that the SAT follows," Chandra said.

Josh Miller, a senior at Ridgefield High School who will attend UCLA next semester, did not share Chandra's fondness for the writing section. Miller, who scored a 2250 on the new SAT, which he took once, felt that "the essay doesn't fairly evaluate your writing skills."

Miller also expressed distrust in the grading system used for the writing section.

"There was an article in [the New York Times] that found the length of your essay was directly related to your score, so it didn't even matter what you wrote as long as you filled up the pages," Miller said.

Lee also disliked the writing section, which she felt made the test excessively long. In Lee's opinion, it would be better if CollegeBoard removed the writing portion from the SAT and reinstated the writing SAT II.

High schools do not receive the results of the class of 2006's SAT performance until mid-summer so it is impossible to compare the final results of the new SAT test with past years' scores. So far, however, Michelene Shulof, the college counselor at Wilton High School, hasn't seen any major problems with the new test.

According to Schulof, the class of 2006 at Wilton High had eight finalists for the National Merit Scholarship, which is based on SAT scores, compared with five finalists in 2005.

Shulof doubted that SAT scores were given as much weight by admissions officers this year as in recent years, however.

"This being the first year [of the new SAT], I don't think colleges are putting as much emphasis on it as CollegeBoard expects," Shulof said.

Wilton High School principal and UConn alumni Timothy Canty also feels that colleges are skeptical of the new SAT, especially the writing portion.

The office of admissions at UConn did not return an e-mail or phone call requesting comment.