“Brown University this week become the third Ivy League institution in the span of about one month to reinstate its SAT requirement, following Yale and Dartmouth,” reports The College Fix. Many universities stopped requiring standardized tests in the bizarre “racial reckoning” that followed the death of George Floyd. But research shows that SAT scores predict whether students will succeed in college — including students of all races — considering both grades and test scores predicts college performance better than just grades alone.
President Christina Paxson accepted the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions Policies to reinstate the standardized test score requirement, the school announced Tuesday. The requirement will begin starting with next year’s applications for the class of 2029 after it was suspended due to COVID testing limitations in 2020.
The University will not have rigid cut-offs for SAT scores. It will consider SAT scores as one factor in admissions, and consider an applicant’s score in light of the applicant’s socioeconomic “background”, whatever obstacles the applicant has overcome, and the educational “opportunities” available to the applicant.
“Our analysis made clear that SAT and ACT scores are among the key indicators that help predict a student’s ability to succeed and thrive in Brown’s demanding academic environment,” says Provost Francis Doyle. “Consideration of test scores in the context of each student’s background will advance Brown’s commitment to academic excellence and the University’s focus on ensuring that talented students from the widest possible range of backgrounds can access a Brown education.”
The University acted in response to the “unintended adverse outcomes of test-optional policies in the admissions process itself…undermining the goal of increasing access” to less advantaged students. “Some students from less-advantaged backgrounds were choosing not to submit scores under the test-optional policy, when doing so could actually increase their chances of being admitted.”
