Gotta maintain standards
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/stanford-demands-nobel-laureate-malala-yousafzai-take-sats/
She lives in the UK. The SAT is offered there.
Why shouldn’t she take the SAT? Everyone else who applies does.
Curing cancer and/or winning a Nobel Prize could be considered worthy of exemption.
If true, this is really just silly, when they have her GCSE results, which are standardized and could well substitute for the SAT. Also, I think that she has more than 1 year of pre-college schooling left to go in Britain, to finish out a normal course (?) even though she is 18. So it seems premature for her to be applying this year. On the other hand, this gives the clear-cut answer to Ben Golub’s question about admissions: “What about Nobel Prize? Nobel Prize enuf?”
If true, it’s particularly silly because Stanford would welcome most Nobel laureates to its faculty, let alone its undergraduate student body.
This is all about “spin” and generating a good story. Stanford is “demanding” she take the SAT!! Really, it’s just a standard requirement, I’m sure she be accepted without needing to score 2200+ on the SAT.
It’s just a standard requirement. She needs to take it and not score too badly (1600s bad) . She has to do everything everyone does. Her results are just less unpredictable than for most 
The Nobel Prize is really nothing more than a popularity contest. Sure, it is a well-known award, but it really says nothing about someone’s ability to thrive in an academic environment. If you are an activist in a cause or activity that pleases the committee, you have a significantly better chance to get an award. Having a ‘hook’ without the basic requirements will not get you into school. If nothing else, Stanford is likely protecting itself from potential litigation. If one person does not have to take it…
I think a better title for this thread might be “Stanford Requires . . . .” rather than “Demands.”
It’s a procedure. She should take it like everyone else. And I am sure she will. Can you imagine anything more obnoxious than I won a nobel prize, I don’t need to follow standard procedures?
It shows how silly “standard procedure” is. She took an equivalent test and aced it. If that can’t be accepted I have to wonder if the College Board has some kind of lock on Stanford.
That’s how it is for ALL internationals. Most have an equivalent test based on a national curriculum with standardized national exams but they STILL need to take the SAT and SAT Subjects. It’s also quite clear MY herself didn’t expect to be exempted - two tweets from random people don’t make a “real story”. CBS is just making a stupid, sensationalistic headline.
MY is preparing her A-Levels right now and is certainly applying to several universities, all of which will require her to tak the relevant tests. She’s likely to get in anywhere she wants. End of story.
A Nobel Peace Prize has nothing to do with academic achievement. Sure, she is a well spoken activist for her cause who has overcome a lot, but academically she is not rare. She did well on her GCSEs, but so did thousands of other British kids (who normally take the tests when they are 15 or 16). A levels are the tests that determine if one is accepted to university here in Britain. And typically, they only cover 3 subjects (such as Politics, Economics and History, etc). The SATs, on the other hand, are more of an apitude test than a subject specific test, like A levels.
Oh well - Stanford’s loss IMHO.
The new “elite” college metric: how many Nobel Laureates did you reject? Lol
When I noted in passing that she had done well on tests, I assumed it was on A-levels, because of her age.
If it was GCSEs, that more or less means she has now completed sophomore year of HS and is a junior. At least it did way back when I went to school there, before the O-levels were replaced by the GCSEs.
Seems a bit early to be talking about admission to Stanford.
SAT used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Test but they had to change it to Scholastic Achievement Test.
Dumb story. And I bet Malala herself would expect to take the test required of everyone else, even though we all know that any school would be LUCKY to have her.
Yeah, world-class musicians are still required to audition. Intel Science winners still have to send in SAT scores. Malia Obama is taking the SAT. Why would anyone expect to have requirements waived for them, just because of who they are? Sure, “special” people may get accepted wherever they apply, but they still have to go through the motions.
I would hate to be the admissions officer who rejects her, no matter what her SAT score is.
Well it would suck if she was accepted solely on the basis of her activism and fame, and then flunked out. If she intends to take classes at one of the most difficult and exclusive universities in the world, then she should meet the minimum academic standards they require for their student body.