A national college admissions panel is encouraging universities to abolish SAT and ACT scores as requirements for admittance.
The panel is organized by the National Association for College Admission Counseling and is led by William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard University.
In a report that will be formally released this week, the panel suggests universities make admissions decisions based on students' achievements in high school or through other tests, such as AP exams and subject tests.
Some colleges, including Wake Forest University, Lawrence University, Smith College and Bates College, have already made the SAT and ACT optional. The panel is encouraging more universities to follow their lead unless they find the test scores necessary.
Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, said reports such as this criticize universities that have a cut-off test score and will not consider applicants who score below this mark.
UF is not one of these schools, he said.
He said UF uses an approach in admissions that considers every aspect of a candidate, and applicants can make up for poor test scores in other areas, such as their essays, extracurricular activities or GPAs.
"Test scores give us a picture in terms of their academic ability, but academics isn't all we look at," Orlando said.
Because of this, he said SAT or ACT scores will continue to be required.
For fall 2007, the average SAT score of incoming students was 1276. The average ACT score was 27.7, and the average GPA was 4.1, he said.
Ashley Yanover, a UF telecommunications junior, transferred from the University of Central Florida this year. Yanover said despite UF's admissions policy, she believes her SAT score was the reason she was not accepted the first time she applied.
She said UF should follow the panel's advice and make the SAT and ACT optional.
"I think that it would benefit UF because they'd get more well-rounded, hard working students rather than students who took one test and did well," she said.
