SAT Test Optional?

Ah, the debate continues. Is the SAT a viable predictor of college performance?

One one hand, it is perhaps the only standardized measurement on a prospective student's application. GPAs? Hardly standardized. A 4.0 at one school does not equate to a 4.0 at another school. So what can a college do? With so many college applicants, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff?

So goes the argument for the SAT: without anything else in place, it can serve as a predictor.

On the other hand, as more and more data is showing, the level of predictability is minimal. According to the latest from Joseph Soares, GPAs are indeed the best predictor of performance. Even if schools have varying standards, it seems that your GPA will determine how well you do in college. Not a standardized test.

Read more about Dr. Soares and his book, SAT Wars: The Case for Test-Optional Admissions (Teachers College Press) and see for yourself.

So where will the SAT go? Nowhere for now. But the long term future of standardized tests may be a question.