Study Says SAT Scores Don't Always Add Up to Success at UC

SAT scores are not an indicator of academic performance at UC campuses, according to the results of a recent undergraduate experience study released this summer.

The authors of the study-mainly UC Berkeley faculty with the Center for Studies in Higher Education-said they hope their findings will provide the blueprint for future admissions processes at UC.

"We're really pleased with the great range of information that the students provided," said Gregg Thomson, director of the Office of Student Research at Berkeley. "Now it's up to us to analyze the data and gain an understanding to better help all UC Students."

After surveying more than 30,000 students across nine UC campuses in the spring of 2002 and 2003, the study finds a correlation between higher family income and higher SAT scores, associating both factors with a greater likelihood of academic irresponsibility.

Academic irresponsibility, as defined by the study, was determined through a series of questions in which students volunteered information about their background and leisure- time activities.

The most academically irresponsible students spent the majority of their time pursuing leisure activities outside of the classroom, such as "partying," "socializing" and "youthful recreation." Those who voluntarily admitted to skipping classes and missing assignments were also deemed academically irresponsible.

According to the data, students from privileged socio-economic backgrounds tend to pursue nonschool-related interests more often than students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds-who tend to study harder and longer in order to prepare themselves for the workplace.

SATs come into play as a socio-economic factor because students from more affluent families can afford tutoring and extra help to score better on the SAT-particularly the verbal section-according to the study.

This would reaffirm the popular idea that high school GPA would be the best indicator of how well students will do entering their first year of college.

More than 2 million students take the SAT each year, yet a growing number of people continue to question its validity as a credible indicator of college success.

"I know a lot of people who didn't do well on the SAT, including myself," said UC Berkeley senior Matthew Hill. "It's an indicator of certain skills, like memorization, but I don't feel like it has any implication of success."

UC studies have examined the relationship between SAT scores and college academic success since the 1950s. The test was first used as an alternative method for students to gain admission to UC in 1968.

But with the increasing debate over grade inflation in California schools, UC adopted the test as a requirement for admission in 1979.

Thompson said student surveys are an efficient tool to gauge the effectiveness of admissions processes.

"Berkeley students have led the way in providing the most comprehensive information to the UC study," Thompson said.

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