New York Times Urges UC to Restore SATs as 12% of UCSD Freshmen Missed Pre-Calculus
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 7
New York Times Urges UC to Restore SATs as 12% of UCSD Freshmen Missed Pre-Calculus
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 7
Summary
Monday’s editorial called UC’s 2020 test-blind admissions policy a “terrible” mistake and urged regents to reverse it at their July 14 meeting.
The board tied that appeal to weaker student preparation, citing UC San Diego data showing nearly 12% of first-year undergraduates last fall were unqualified for pre-calculus, up from 0.5% in 2020.
A 225-page UC task-force report had already found test scores helped predict GPA, retention and graduation, but the system stopped considering SAT and ACT results in 2020, even when applicants wanted to submit them.
Faculty pressure has intensified ahead of the review: more than 2,300 STEM professors and more than 900 humanities faculty signed letters saying the policy hides preparation gaps and drains academic resources.
UC says its Academic Senate is conducting a new data-driven review of admissions criteria as many peer schools, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, again require standardized test scores.