Chinese Students Go Extreme for College Entry Test

Claremont McKenna College administrator inflated scores

(NEWSER) - Claremont McKenna College is currently ranked by US News and World Report as the nation's ninth-best liberal arts college—but, the college admitted yesterday, that ranking is based on falsified SAT scores. The small California school says that since 2005, "a senior administrator" who has since resigned submitted false scores to US News & World Report and other publications that rank colleges. Insiders say Richard C. Vos, vice president and dean of admissions, is responsible, the New York Times reports. The scores were only inflated by an average of 10 to 20 points each, and it is unclear whether the revelation will affect any of the school's rankings. More»

One reason: more students taking the test

(NEWSER) - One of the three Rs just found a new basement: SAT reading scores fell three points to reach their lowest level on record, the AP reports. The decline took the scores to 497 out of 800, and it was just the second time in the past 20 years that reading scores have fallen that much in one year. In 2005, the average was 508. Math scores for the class of 2011 dropped from 515 to 514 and writing scores from 491 to 489, bringing the overall score down from 1506 to 1500, notes Education Week . Combined reading and math scores hit their lowest level since 1995, More»

Founder of test-prep firm challenged thinking about SAT

(NEWSER) - Stanley Kaplan, founder of the test-prep behemoth that bears his name, died this weekend of heart failure at age 90, the Washington Post reports. Kaplan’s company not only helped millions of students level the playing field in what he described as a “poor man’s private school” but also smashed a widely-believed fallacy—that the SAT measured the innate ability to learn, and therefore couldn’t be studied for. More»

Dozier's initial results were invalidated

(NEWSER) - Another former University of Memphis player has a dodgy-looking SAT score in his past, ESPN reports. Robert Dozier was originally set to go to Georgia, until the school noticed that he’d scored a 1260 on his SAT, a score drastically better than his practice exams. The NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse then got an anonymous letter saying someone else may have taken the test for Dozier. More»

(NEWSER) - “What did you get on your SATs?” is now a multiple-choice question. A policy enacted last month allows students who take the test several times to pick which score they send to colleges, the Washington Post reports. But many schools aren’t thrilled with the change, and a quarter of them are asking students to continue sending all of their scores. More»