When all the Ivy League institutions went test-optional as a result of COVID, and some seemed comfortable with the idea, I thought I’d be writing a lot less about the College Board. And I was, for a while. But they keep doing stuff that doesn’t sit right with me, and I feel compelled to ask […]
Last week, I wrote about how College Board and the Highly Rejective Colleges are to blame for the concerns being expressed by many high school and independent counselors about the lack of SAT testing sites in their communities. In some discussion groups I participate in, these concerns are increasing and amplifying. And to date, College […]
We shouldn’t be surprised. But before I tell you what they’re doing again, let’s remember what they did. During the COVID-19 pandemic, College Board moved to a 45-minute, online AP exam. It was a time of great stress and uncertainty, of course, and with regard to logistics and mechanics, they had no choice but to […]
In December, 2019, people in the college admission profession learned that a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department against The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) had been settled, effectively pulling the rug out from under the association’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice, or SPGP as it was known among thousands of people […]
I just learned that the man who gave me a chance and hired me into my first admissions job, Don McCormick, has passed away. He was one of the people I had in mind when I wrote a brief, completely inadequate post of thanks to everyone who had set me on my path. And, of […]
One of my favorite quotations is so delightfully complex and paradoxical that it’s often attributed to Yogi Berra, who almost certainly didn’t say it: “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.” In the spring of 2024, our theories and our practices are on a collision course with […]
I’m sick of this crap. To reiterate, I don’t care about tests, other than to point out repeatedly the essential absurdity of the very concept. Use them if you want, Love them if you want. I work at a university that doesn’t require them, and I work on the west coast, where they’re essentially meaningless. I’m retiring in three […]
Two quick stories might help you understand how the FAFSA delays and how you deal with them are not just mechanical or operational: They’re cultural. Many years ago, back when we used to get our reimbursements as physical checks instead of direct deposits, I grabbed mine and walked to the Student Accounts Office on campus […]
I’ve seen a lot of press recently about the revivial of the SAT, in both big national papers and smaller, narrower market publications. There is a lot to hash out in the discussion of the value of these tests, but let’s get one thing out of the way: Statistics don’t prove much in this debate, and […]
Last week I had written about the David Leonhardt article in the NY Times (if you haven’t seen it by now, don’t bother, as the statistics it cites have been widely dismissed by people who know the reality), in which I suggested that it was yet another College Board plant, where they pre-deliver a nice […]
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