Should Elite Universities Reinstate the SAT?

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many colleges during the pandemic decided to make their applications test-optional, but new research has elite colleges rethinking that policy. Those in favor of reinstating say the SAT is the best way to bring talented students from all socioeconomic levels into the fold. Those against it say it favors the affluent and argue that admissions decisions should be based on a holistic, more inclusive review that considers a wide range of factors Now we debate: Should Elite Universities Reinstate the SAT? Arguing Yes: John Friedman, Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at Brown University Arguing No: Ben Nelson, Founder of Minerva University Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:28.8	This is open to debate.
0:33.2	I'm John Don Van.
0:34.2	Hi everybody.
0:35.2	Across the land a few years ago, high school students, most of them anyway,
0:39.4	breathed a sigh of relief when colleges by the hundreds removed the exam known as the SAT from their admissions
0:46.4	requirements.
0:47.4	Nobody likes taking the SAT or at least I've never heard of anybody enjoying it.
0:51.6	I certainly did not. but opposition didn't come just
0:54.4	from the stress that students feel about it. The test has long been accused of
0:57.7	being culturally biased and racially biased and favoring the better off and
1:00.9	being unreliable as a predictor of academic success.
1:04.4	The pandemic comes along and provides an opportunity to make the test optional.
1:08.6	And that's when the trend against requiring the SAT really kicked in and all of those schools made the change.
1:14.7	And now?
1:15.7	Well, the mandatory SAT may be making a comeback at least at some of the most selective schools.
1:21.8	Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale have started requiring it again.
	...

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