Thursday, August 20, 2009

Yay! Personality assessments being added to the college-admissions circus!

from The Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2009
Adding Personality to the College Admissions Mix
by Robert Tomsho

For years, colleges have asked applicants for their grade-point averages and standardized test scores.

Now, schools like Boston College, DePaul University and Tufts University also want to measure prospective students' personalities.

Using recently developed evaluation systems, these schools and others are aiming to quantify so-called noncognitive traits such as leadership, resilience and creativity. Colleges say such assessments are boosting the admissions chances for some students who might not have qualified based solely on grades and traditional test scores. The noncognitive assessments also are being used to screen out students believed to be at a higher risk of dropping out, and to identify newly admitted students who might need extra tutoring.

For the rest of the story, click here.

No comments: