Tests Are Key for Some College Admissions in California

Both the University of Californa and the California State University system use test scores--either the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), designed by the Educational Testing Service, or one produced by the American College Testing Program (ACT)--to help determine freshman eligibility.

UC selects its freshmen from the top 12 1/2% of the state’s high school graduates.

A student qualifies for this pool on the basis of grades, test scores, or a combination of the two. To qualify on high school grades alone, the student needs a grade-point average of 3.3 (B-plus) or better in a pattern of required academic courses. To qualify by test scores, a student needs to score 1,100 or better on the combined verbal and math SAT--or have an ACT score of 26 or higher--and scores of at least 500 on each of three subject-area achievement tests, provided the total on the three tests is at least 1,650.

UC admissions officials say more than 80% of new freshmen are eligible on high school grades alone. Very few are admitted on test scores alone.

For the remaining 15% to 20%, test scores are important. For instance, at one UC campus, a combined SAT score of 1,090, along with a 3.0 grade-point average, is good enough for admission. But at the more popular UC campuses--Berkeley, Santa Barbara or UCLA--that same 3.0 student would need higher test scores to be admitted.

Another route into UC is “special admissions,” amounting to 6% of first-time freshmen. These are promising students who for some reason do not meet the normal admissions criteria.

The 19-campus California State University system selects freshmen from the top one-third of high school graduates.

A student qualifies with a 3.1 grade-point average or better in a set of required high school courses, or through a combination of grades and test scores. Students cannot be admitted to a Cal State campus on test scores alone, as they can at UC.

Ralph Bigelow, Cal State’s statewide admissions officer, said a 1983 study found that two-thirds of entering freshmen were eligible on grades alone but, for the other one-third, “the ACT or SAT scores were essential.”

Cal State also has a “special admissions” category, amounting to 8% of the previous year’s undergraduate enrollment throughout the system.

Most of the state’s private colleges and universities also use test scores as part of the admissions process.

At Stanford University, where there were more than 16,000 applicants for 1,500 places in next fall’s freshman class, ACT or SAT scores “are used in conjunction with other criteria,” including grades, the degree of difficulty of high school work and performance outside the classroom, according to John Bunnell, associate dean of admissions.

Anne Morley, associate director of admissions at USC, said test scores are used in much the same way on that campus, where about 11,000 students applied for about 3,000 places in the fall freshman class.

While the tests are helpful, Morley said, “the high school grade-point average is still the best predictor of how well a student will do with college work.”