RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Three years after dropping the SAT and ACT exams as a requirement for prospective students, Wake Forest University hasn't had second thoughts about the experiment.
Martha Allman, dean of admissions at the school, said the decision to make the tests an optional part of the application process was not an easy one.
But since then, the percentage of students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes has gone from 65 percent to 83 percent. Allman says the student body has also become more diverse since the decision.
While hundreds of schools have made the tests optional, few have the reputation of Wake Forest.
Kathleen Steinberg, spokeswoman for the College Board, says the SATs are a reliable measure of students' readiness for college.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
