Graduate test waiver

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by chrisjm18, Apr 5, 2020.

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  1. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Some colleges are also waiving admission tests (SAT/ACT) requirements for kids graduating high school.
     
  3. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    In regards to your link, Chris, it appears Alabama is waiving the GMAT/GRE for programs that are less quantitative.
     
  4. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    Not that these tests mean anything anyway.
     
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  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    They should. Permanently.

    1. It has a very limited function: predicting performance in the first year of college.
    2. It is a poor predictor; high school grades are a much better predictor of college success.
    3. When added to high school grades, it improves prediction (correlation between high school and freshman college grades) by only .1
    4. It is highly subjective--questions written by college students and instructors.
    5. It is highly discriminatory. There is a high correlation between family wealth and performance on the SAT. This is due to how the questions are written and the families' ability to pay for prep courses.
    6. It's imprecise. The SAT scores are presented on a normed, 3-digit scale. But the last digit is always zero, so it's really a 2-digit score. But the tests have such a huge margin of error--the verbal more so than the math--it's only the first digit that is revealing. It's really a scale of 2-8 for each of two sections, not 200-800.
    7. It is largely useless. About 90% of colleges and universities are open-enrollment, accepting all qualified applicants.
    8. Finally, it is unfair. The testing is demanded by one party (universities), yet the costs are borne by another (applicants and their families). Imagine if an employer required job applicants to pay for the screening process used to select applicants. It's absurd. Yet colleges and universities--again, most of whom don't even need the information--not only demand the exam, they require the applicant to pay for it.

    The SAT and ACT are a huge drain of resources and learning. So much time and money is wasted preparing for these exams instead of actual learning. And for what? To try to nail a test that measures a little bit of reading and a little bit of math. Billions are spent each year to prepare for them--but not by the actual users of the exams, the colleges and universities.

    These exams are of such little actual value that I predict that if the colleges and universities were required to pay for them, they'd disappear overnight.
     
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  6. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    But The College Board and the ACT both promise that the "next" iteration of their tests will account for those deficiencies.... pinky promise... they swear...
     
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  7. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I would agree that the GMAT/GRE is not the greatest indicator of ones potential success in graduate studies. I was just stating the fact that it seems like Alabama is only waiving the entrance exam for less quantitative programs.
     
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  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Once upon a time I did a little reading on this subject and I believe that the only thing these tests predict is that people who perform in the middle range will perform in the middle range.
     
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  9. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

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  10. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I **BELIEVE** Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine no longer requires the GRE for their PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine. In fact, there are several top universities that have waived the GRE for several of their programs.
     
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  11. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    In addition, students' prior education and/or experience can earn them test waivers. I believe you received a waiver for one of the recent programs you applied to? When I was admitted to a doctoral program at West Chester University, I got a waiver. The qualification for the waiver was a GPA of 3.85 or better in your master's program.
     
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  12. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I received a GMAT/GRE waiver at and was admitted to:

    University of Oklahoma (Price)
    University of Missouri-Columbia (Trulaske)
    Johns Hopkins University (Carey)
    Duke University (Fuqua)

    The University I did my MBA at did not require the GMAT/GRE so I technically did not get a waiver for it. The requirements for each program was different.
     
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