And the emails keep coming…
I have close to 200 emails now from alumni, parents and friends weighing in on the SAT issue. Interestingly enough, a lot of people are emailing our admissions office directly, and they are getting a strong quotient of kudos - proportionally more than I have seen. Even so, I still have more applause than boos coming in.
I was on the Quad a few minutes ago and was stopped by a gentleman who was asking directions. He and his collegue were college counselors and were visiting campus. I asked how they liked Wake Forest and they said “We LOVE it. We have been sending you students for years - this is a great place” yadda. I asked if they had heard the SAT optional decision and what they thought of it. They said they think it is a huge positive. Interesting to hear an outsider’s perspective.
One of the recurring themes of the emails I have been getting is about whether we are going to let less qualified students in if we eliminate a mandatory SAT. This has not proven true according to the analyses of the other schools who have done this - the difference between college GPA for SAT submitters vs. non-submitters has been very small. There is research, particularly from Bates, that disputes this. http://www.wfu.edu/wowf/2008/sat-act/
The point I wish to make is that there are a lot of kids who have excellent GPAs and high school records in AP and IB courses who may not be great test takers - and some of those kids would not apply here because they don’t fit the SAT score that we list as our average. I was one of those kids - and from the emails I’ve read, a lot of you were too! - so I am proud that we are giving people the option of not sending those scores.
Story developing…