There is another post on this same community that refutes this exact study and others like it (or purports to refute it, anyway).
Just based on my own experience 20 years ago vs my kids’ now, I feel like high school grades are now way more about organization and following specific, arbitrary instructions, which are very home-life influenced, than any kind of skill or knowledge assessment. Maybe they always were? I think those things correlate in kids with reasonably secure lives, but they are different things and may not always go together. Curiosity, rabbit-holing, tinkering, and rigorous analysis/criticism are all very distinct from learning what your teachers want each day and finishing the assignments. Which ones are more important for a given class may say more about the class than the student.
I find it interesting how this popped up just after I finished reading a whole post about how the SATs are way better predictors or college success than we had imagined. Apparently there is some real issues with the statistics they use in their analysis (not considering students who have low SAT scores and don’t go to college at all, and those with higher SAT scores that simply can get into better colleges)
There is also a decent argument that the SAT/ACT are actually the most fair and least racist part of the admissions process. The argument is everything else is so nebulous and subjective that you have to fit into their “culture” to have a good chance of getting in, with their “culture” often being predominantly white.
While now anyone can research online and spend hours studying, and with enough motivation for really well on the SAT/ACT. It’s nearly impossible to know how to write the essay the way they want it to read without guidance. I mean heck even the people who fit into their culture often pay for help with guidance on their essays. Extracurricular activities being promoted way more than working a job is another example.
There is even an argument that due to institutional racism, high-school GPAs themselves can lead to adverse results in admission considerations.
While the SAT/ACT are far from perfect, they are by far the most fair tool we have.
A study that actually makes sense! One test that you can specifically study for has less correlation with college success than the day-in, day-out grind of actual study. SAT and ACT should be the least level of importance for college acceptance.
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