WPI Will No Longer Require SAT

It's too early to suggest the SAT is in its death throes, but today a prestigious quantoid university, Worcester Polytechnic, announced it will no longer require the SAT for admission. Could it be that the SAT will take its last breath about the same time that this generation of children has been entirely stupidified by testing? From Inside Higher Ed:

This fall, WPI will no longer require the SAT — joining a movement of 700-plus colleges that has been growing in recent years. That trend has been most evident among liberal arts colleges. WPI will become the first competitive science and engineering focused institution to make the leap — which is being hailed by critics of the SAT.

“The significance of the WPI announcement is that even a school with a heavy emphasis on quantitative skills — arguably among those best measured by the ACT/SAT — can do high-quality, competitive admissions without requiring test scores,” said Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. He called the announcement “a strong rebuttal to those who suggest test-optional policies only can work at small, liberal arts colleges.”

Like most of the colleges that have dropped SAT requirements, WPI will still accept the scores, and Tichenor predicted that most applicants would continue to submit them. Those who wish not to will take what the institute is calling its “Flex Path” in admissions. They will be required to submit examples of academic or extracurricular work that shows their skills in organization, creativity or problem solving. Examples include written descriptions of science projects, robotics design concepts, research papers, Eagle Scout projects, entrepreneurial projects, or actual inventions.