UF and SAT "adversity score"

[Gator88NE]

What data is included in the dashboard?

Some media reports have referred to the ECD providing an “adversity score.” That term is
inaccurate, because that’s not what the dashboard does. To clarify:

• The Environmental Context Dashboard doesn’t alter a student’s SAT score in any way.
• It does show how a student’s SAT or ACT® score compares to those of other students in their
school.
• It doesn’t take into account any personal characteristics of a student beyond the test score.
• It does provide admissions officers with better context about an applicant’s neighborhood
and high school

When this news story came out, I got as outraged as everyone else (hidden scores?!).

But now I’ve decided this is a bunch of nothing. The College Board is trying to counter the argument that the SAT scores are racially biased, and this is their way to make the argument that it’s not (We’ve added Context!).

First, only the very selective schools use holistic admissions, and would even consider this information. In the state of Florida (for state universities) that’s UF and to a much less degree FSU. The other public universities put far less focus on non-academic factors (if any at all).

UF already considers many of these factors.

UF already “considers” geographical residence (which is different from state residency, which is also considered). We never talk about it, because it’s something we can’t influence. No one should move, because UF considers geographical residence.

UF already considers which HS you attend, as a way to put your GPA, course rigor and class rank into “context”.

UF already considers (it’s “very important”) the student’s essay and any information they have shared in the application.What the student writes in the essay/application will have far more weight than this “adversity score”.

Finally, UF already considers (it’s “important”) “First generation” status.This factor isn’t about to be replaced by the ECD Dashboard.

We already know that UF may take a kid from a lower performing HS, before one with a higher GPA/Test score at a high performing HS. Then again, that same low performing HS may have only sent 2 kids to UF, while the high performing HS sent 100+.

:neutral: At the end of the day, I don’t think the “ECD” will have any noticeable impact on UF admissions. It’s more information that they may consider, but it’s not enough for us to worry about it. Treat it like we do today with “geographical residence”.

Don’t expect UF to make changes, based on ECD data, that would impact the average ACT/SAT/GPA scores of it’s incoming class of freshman. The average ACT/SAT/GPA scores will continue to slowly creep up over the next several years, as UF becomes more and more competitive (and the state population continues to grow, which leads to an even bigger pool of potential UF applicants)…