25 August 2006 - 7:42First the SAT, next the GPA?! I can dream.

George Mason University recently announced that it’s dropping the requirement for some undergraduate applicants to submit their SAT scores.

The school, after a three-year review, concluded that SAT scores are a poor indicator of collegiate success for high-achieving high school students.

Three years to figure that out, really?

Dozens of private schools have stopped requiring applicants to take the SAT or ACT amid concerns the tests are not accurate gauges of an applicant’s potential for success. Among public schools, however, George Mason’s stance is somewhat unique.

It’s been disappointing to me that, after all these years since I first became disillusioned with these silly numerical grading systems, I haven’t heard of any innovations in evaluating student performance or potential. How ridiculous is it to reduce a person’s potential to contribute and succeed in an academic environment to just a single numerical metric (or even two, or three)? It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that there appears to be some reevaluation going on from within academia (however slowly), and I’m not at all surprised that private instutions are the ones taking the lead. Plus, at this rate, who knows?! In the future, they might even figure out a metric slightly more informative than the GPA. Just give it a few more decades ;o)