 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
"Some college administrators seem so distracted with fund raising, academic infighting, and community initiatives that they set up their emergency communications departments very poorly. Training is poor to nonexistent, secretaries are pressed into service with tremendous responsibilities for running 'notification systems' 24/7 and on weekends because no one else knows how to do it and the administration won’t pay for additional staff. Procedures are seat-of-the-pants and dependent on HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion), except when something like Virginia Tech happens and there is some sort of scramble to do something different." --Donna
Most Colleges Avoid Risk Management, Report Says
Jill Biden Shines a Global Spotlight on American Community Colleges
Speaking at a Unesco conference in Paris, the vice president’s wife stressed the importance of two-year institutions to the nation’s educational goals.
Connecticut Public Colleges Lose 200 Professors to Early Retirement
Administrators are scrambling to plug holes in their course schedules for fall, with most expecting to do so by hiring more adjuncts or increasing class sizes.
U. of Georgia Paid 2 Fraternities $2.4-Million to Relocate, Contracts Show
The two were among five with houses on property where the university plans to build new academic facilities.
New Allegations in Admissions Controversy at U. of Illinois Suggest Ex-Provost Played a Role
Linda P.B. Katehi, the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Davis, has insisted she knew nothing of the admission of politically connected applicants at Illinois.
Sonoma State U. Foundation May Lose $350,000 on Loan to Former Board Member
The foundation will be forced to issue fewer scholarships in the 2010-11 academic year because of a diminished endowment, a university official said.
College Suspends Student for Working in Gay Pornography | 58
President Obama's Visit to Notre Dame Carries Barely a Hint of Controversy That Preceded It | 58
Drug Sting Nabs 21 Students at U. of Illinois | 57
Faculty Members and Union Protest Staff Layoffs at Temple U. as 'Cruel' | 57
North Dakota Board's Vote Puts 'Fighting Sioux' Mascot on Thinner Ice | 57
Athletics
Community Colleges
Government & Politics
Information Technology
International
Money & Management
Northern Illinois
Research & Books
Short Subjects
Students
The Faculty
Prior days' news: By date | Search
This week's print issue
Back issues: By date | Search
September 20, 2007
For Many Colleges, Reading and Math Are Still More Important Than Writing
The chorus of complaints about the writing section of the SAT continues in today’s Boston Globe, which reports that hundreds of colleges and universities pay little attention to their applicants’ writing scores.
Many elite institutions, including Georgetown University, MIT, and Smith College, completely ignore the score students earn on the essay portion of the SAT. Data from the College Board, which administers the test, show that 56 percent of about 1,000 four-year institutions do not consider the writing score in their admissions criteria. Despite that finding, the College Board also said that an overwhelming majority of the 61 most selective colleges in the country use the writing score to some extent.
In admissions circles, critics of the 25-minute essay test, which was added to the SAT in March 2005, say that the test is too formulaic and does not gauge a student’s actual ability to write a college-level research paper. —Elizabeth F. Farrell
Posted on Thursday September 20, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
Previous: Duke U. to Create Criminal-Justice Center in Wake of Lacrosse Scandal
Next: William and Mary's President Steps Back From Daily Duties
Your headline is misleading, if not downright wrong. Writing is important to the colleges, but it’s not really important to the SAT.
The SAT encourages students to produce formulaic essays on a general topic written in 25-minutes, essays where factual errors aren’t penalized. So unimportant is actual writing to the testmakers at SAT that they actually put more weight on the writing section’s fill-in-the bubble questions about grammar and usage.
In contrast, writing is so important to the colleges in question that they reject the superficial assessment of writing ability that the SAT writing test provides in favor of more reliable measures, for example actual student papers that reveal both knowledge and rhetorical skill.
— Dennis Baron Sep 20, 03:51 PM #
I heard that many colleges use the writing section solely or primarily to determine the extent to which a student received “help” on their application essays.
— Louise Epstein Sep 20, 06:42 PM #
I agree with #1. The headline is idiotic. Of course writing is important to college applications, but you have the application essays. I could see how colleges would use it as #2 says — look for big discrepancies. On the other hand, I know of people who got low writing SAT II or low GRE writing (analytic) scores who were still excellent writers. The SAT writing is too short and formulaic to tell anything.
— KSM Sep 21, 12:18 AM #