Minimum Academic Requirements

[CTHoya08]

Does anyone know how the introduction of the new SAT for the class of 2006 will affect the minimum academic qualifications for freshman eligibility?

[JimmyHoya]

You need an 800/1600 to play now (or higher min gpa if below), so I think it would go to 1200/2400....?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

I don't think a lot of people know how to treat the new section to the SAT and frankly a lot of organizations don't like it at all - they might just subtract the writing score out for now.

[CTHoya08]

I found it interesting when GU stated that the new section would not be used by admissions, because it was not as good a test as the old SATII Writing. I found this strange, because by all the accounts I have heard, it IS the SATII Writing. I was just curious, because if the minimum was raised to 1200 or whatever, someone close to qualifying would have more ways to reach that score. Also, is 800 the current requirement? I thought it was 2.0 and 1000, or 2.5 and 800.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I think one of the differences is that the old SATII writing was scored by individual scorers, and the new Writing component of the SAT1 is a semi-automated (if not fully computerized) scoring system. Many high school teachers have complained that it forces students into a formulaic writing system, and strongly emphasizes form over content.

[CTHoya08]

Interesting. I hadn't heard about the change in scoring.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I could be wrong, but I remember reading an article that mentioned something along those lines, and included a bunch of complaints from h.s. english teachers.

[hoyalove4ever]

I agree w/ Neon Badoe from "Blue Chips": those tests are culturally biased.

[Deleted]

Slick: "I'm not going to bull you Pete. He ain't no brain surgeon, aight? He took the SAT recently and scored a 520 out of a possible 1600!"

Coach Bell: "520? You get 400 just for spelling your name right!"

Slick: "That's it - he messed up his name!"

What a horrible movie.

[hoyalove4ever]

No way-- "Blue Chips" is a good basketball flick. It really focuses on the pressure and realities of the recruiting landscape. It also makes a good point in how Coach Bell discusses how his best coaching effort was actually during a mediocre season b/c he got the most out of his limited talent.

Another great line, when Tony is talking about how he is failing his TV class: "We do more than just watch the tube."

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

The problem with making the writing section part of the SATI tests is that it is partially standardized and it - like the rest of the SAT is a test that you can learn to take as a test independent of any skill that is independently tested on the SATI since the whole test is actually an evaluation of an individuals' ability to know a little a bit about the subject material and know a lot more about how the test is made and what the form the test demans is. The SAT II tests including writing were more of a test like those in AP and IB programs - they actually test and individuals ability and the test is scored by a human for the most part.

[Deleted]

"AND GET TONY SOME PROPHILACTICS!!"

[Cambridge]

hoyalove4ever said:

I agree w/ Neon Badoe from "Blue Chips": those tests are culturally biased.

I just read the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and he has a whole passage on a study done by the pyschologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson.

"...using black college students and twenty questions taken from the GRE, the standardized test used for entry into graduate school. When the students were asked to identify their race on a pretest questionaire, that simple act was sufficient to prime them with all the negative stereotypes associated with African Americans and academic achievement - and the number of items they got right was cut in half. As a society we place enormous faith in tests because we think they are a reliable indicator of the test taker's ability and knowledge. But are they really? If a white student from a prestigious private high school gets a higher SAT score than a black student from an inner-city school, is it because she's truly a better student, or is it because to be white and to attend a prestigious high school is to be constantly primed with the idea of "smart"?"

Now take all that with a grain of salt...but the book is fascinating. Basically, his theory is that the many of our discisions and actions are heavily influenced by the most subtle signals and information our mind processes "behind the scenes" in our subconscious. Just priming people into thinking they are smart can actually make them perform better. Conversely, priming them for failure...will often cause them to fail. Seems straightforward, but he provides surprising amounts of studies and proof for the argument.

I recommend the book.

[hoyalove4ever]

I will have to check it out...sounds like Neon was on to something!