In an attempt to increase the school’s national academic ranking, an admissions official at Claremont McKenna College in California exaggerated students SAT scores, an issue which has raised concerns from MSU students and administrators.
“The problem with rankings is that they can have a negative effect on many colleges’ perceived status,” said Jeff Olson, Kaplan Test Prep vice president of data science.
“While this incident is more egregious than others, the reality is there are a number of ways they can influence rankings.”
Institutions can influence scores by eliminating early admissions policies to increase the number of applicants and also by making the SAT optional, which might discourage students with lower scores from reporting them, he said.
MSU’s Director of Admissions Jim Cotter said he is concerned with this type of behavior since inflated averages could potentially impact national rankings.
Although he said there are multiple ways in which universities can report academic averages — some of which can make their test scores appear greater than they actually are — Cotter has never heard of such a problem in his 28 years at MSU.
“Some institutions report test scores by choosing the best sub-scores from multiple test settings to create a composite score that really doesn’t exist,” Cotter said. “(MSU) uses the best composite score that a student produces in a single setting when reporting averages.”
In addition, Cotter said MSU has a system of checks and balances when reporting this type of data.
The scores are sent through the Office of Admissions and then to the Office of Planning and Budgets to be released, Cotter said.
“It’s simply a compilation of data sent from high schools that we calculate and then release for public consumption,” he said.
Although SAT and ACT scores are only one factor educational institutions consider when admitting students, they might help students gauge their potential admission to their university of choice.
Out of the more than 28,000 students who applied to MSU last year, approximately 5,000 applications incorporated SAT scores, with an average score of 1020-1220 in the math and critical reading portions, Cotter said.
MSU provides the 50th percentile range as opposed to a one-number average so students can more easily determine where they stand in terms of admissions, he said.
“It’s important for students to know where they fit in,” Cotter said. “This can be used to help students predict how they might perform individually.”
Graphic design junior Ashley Brimley said although test scores don’t necessarily determine a student’s academic potential, she still was concerned about her score when applying to MSU.
“I think (test scores) are important to get into college … but a test doesn’t tell a person’s potential.”
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
