Tuesday, May 27, 2008

You are different, so are we...except we were first

With all the buzz about test prep for colleges...some universities are dropping the requirement.


"You are different, so are we" stands the motto of Sarah Lawrence College, one of the first colleges to no longer require SAT scores as part of their admission process. It was a number they rarely looked at in the first place. The backlash was strong by the communities who so admire statistics. The school was dropped from some of the ranking systems for higher education, but applications and admissions soared. Now, Sarah Lawrence College is no normal institution. Their distinctly small round table classrooms, secret grades, and lack of majors set them apart in the first place for being different.

I'm not surprised that a school like Smith followed along in the trend, as I'm not familiar with Wake Forest University I just have to say bravo to them. I understand why large universities need numbers and I don't chastise them for the use of SAT scores and class rank, but I think it is tremendously important for small colleges to look past scores and into the minds of the students who will be participating in round table discussions, creating the community, and making the small legacy a strong one.

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