Author Archive: James Maroney

Every year at this time we hear a news story about colleges dropping their admissions test requirement.  This year, we added Le Moyne College and the University of Puget Sound to that list.  According to Fairtest.org, this lis has now grown to about 800 four-year colleges.  The question naturally arises: “Are college admission tests, such as the SAT, still relevant?”

The answer is the same as it is for many questions about the college admissions process: it depends.  From 2000 to 2013, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling’s Annual State of College Admission Report shows an almost identical percentage of colleges rating standardized admission test scores of “Considerable Importance.”  In both years 58% of respondents gave that answer.  What does that mean?  It means that the overall portion of schools who think that standardized tests matter has remained the same.

What is interesting to note, however, is that the majority of colleges [...]