Next year's freshman class will be admitted to Tufts in way that will change how the Office of Admissions does business.
Students in the class of 2010 will be the first to have taken the newly redesigned SAT. The changes to the test will require adjustments on the behalf of admissions officers just as much as on prospective students.
In the past, the SAT consisted of only two sections - verbal and math - and was scored out of 1600 points. The redesigned test will include an essay portion, worth an additional 800 points.
"The new format required us to redesign our information systems and adjust our testing requirements somewhat," Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin said.
The original two SAT sections will be evaluated similarly to how they have been viewed in past years. "Scores from the old and new verbal and math sections are comparable," Coffin said. "The writing section is a new test and it will take us a year or two to establish our norm."
The SAT II writing subject test had previously been required for admission, in addition to two other subject tests. Now, Coffin said, only the two additional subject tests will be required.
Because the SAT II writing subject test had been required for many years, Coffin said, the new SAT does not affect the amount of importance the Office of Admissions places on writing skills. "It is always important for applicants to demonstrate excellence in English grammar and written expression," he said.
Jonathan Gebayo, a high school senior and prospective student took both the old and the redesigned SAT. "We're the first year to take the test...so we set the bar, which is good," he said. "But it also doesn't give us a concrete idea of where we rank in the admissions process."
Gebayo complained that the redesigned test is 45 minutes longer than the original three hour test. "It was incredibly long," he said. "I thought I was going to pass out."
In addition to the new writing section, the new SAT has dropped the analogies component from the verbal section in favor of critical reading passages. The new test also costs more than the previous one. The redesigned SAT costs $81.50 to take, whereas the old version cost $58.
Sophomore Jessica Preston said the redesigned SAT may give an unfair advantage to students more interested in humanities than in science. "English takes up two thirds of the exam now," she said.
Coffin said the longer time of the exam would be taken into account when reviewing the scores, but that the admissions criteria would remain largely intact. "The new SAT format simply rearranges the testing elements Tufts already requires of candidates for admission," he said.
