Penn State optimistic about how new SAT will enhance admissions process

University Park, Pa. –- Not since the College Board re-centered Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores in 1995 has there been such anticipation in the halls of academe –- the new SAT, including a first-time writing component, is coming and secondary and higher education officials are thoughtfully reviewing how to make effective use of the new information.

At Penn State, there is optimism about how the new test will contribute to admission decisions at the university.

“We receive over 40,000 freshman applications each year, and we have more students sending us their SAT scores than any college or university east of Los Angeles,” said John Romano, vice provost and dean of enrollment management and administration at Penn State. “Penn State processes a tremendous amount of student information and, while we applaud the addition of a writing component to the SAT, we need to remind ourselves that the results of the new SAT will be just one of many factors we look at as we make admission decisions.”

“The immediate impact of the writing component,” Romano said, “is the strong signal it sends to students, parents, teachers and administrators in our nation’s secondary schools that writing is important. Eventually, we hope to observe in our university classrooms across all disciplines the results of this added emphasis. For now, we need to assess what role the additional component should play in our decisions.”

The College Board will add the mandatory writing component to the SAT in March 2005. The American College Testing (ACT) assessment will add an optional writing component in February 2005. Students applying for admission to Penn State must submit either SAT or ACT scores as part of their application materials.

For students choosing to take the SAT, Penn State has already announced that it will receive the new test scores, which will include the mandatory writing assessment, when the scores first become available in 2005.

“While we will receive the SAT standardized writing test scores when they are available in spring 2005, the incorporation of those test results in admission decisions will be a gradual process,” said Randall Deike, assistant vice provost for enrollment management at Penn State. “We expect to fully integrate the writing component into the evaluative measures we use by 2008."

The University will require students choosing to take the ACT assessment to submit writing scores beginning with those interested in summer and fall 2008 admission.

“It is important to note,” Deike said, “that the most significant element in our evaluation will likely not change with the addition of the writing component. Performance in high school, as measured through the student’s grade point average, will continue to be highly significant in our evaluation.”

"We are advising students to not panic," added Romano. "The new writing component will simply widen the snapshot that we currently look at when evaluating their likelihood of academic success at Penn State. It’s another piece of information, based on something they have been doing for most of their lives –- writing.”