RALEIGH, N.C. --Wake Forest University will no longer require applicants to take the SAT and ACT exams, boosting a movement to lessen the importance of standardized tests in college admissions.
The Winston-Salem school, which admitted just 38 percent of its 9,000 applicants for this fall, is the latest in a string of colleges that no longer require standardized tests. Officials there say the scores are not the best predictor of academic potential.
Most other colleges that have dropped standardized testing have not been highly selective and accept most, if not all, qualified applicants. The most prominent and selective schools have generally continued to use the tests as one of several admissions criteria. The announcement Tuesday from Wake Forest - on the heels of a similar decision this month by Smith College in Massachusetts - adds two more selective colleges to the movement.
Wake Forest said it was the first of the top 30 schools in the annual U.S. News & World Report college rankings to drop the tests.
Director of Admissions Martha Allman said she has seen students at the top of their class who excelled but did poorly on the SAT and didn't get in. The school, which did away with the testing requirement while examining how to diversify the student population, will instead place more emphasis on personal interviews, academics and extracurricular activities. Students can still have their test scores considered if they want...
Graphic from Schools Matter.
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