College Shorts

Average SAT scores remain steady

According to a report released on Monday, average scores on the SAT college entrance exam remained steady this year, in contrast to the falling trend of the past five years.  The score remained stable in spite of the record number of students and minority students who took the exam this year.

High school students in the class of 2010 scored an average combined total of 1509 on the three sections of the exam. This average score was identical to last year’s average.  Although the average writing score dropped one point, the math score increased by one point while the reading section results remained the same.

41.5 percent of students who took the SAT in 2010 were minorities. Except for Asian-Americans, most minority groups score lower than the average score.

Students who complete a core high school curriculum, which the College Board defines as four or more years of English and three or more years of math, natural science, social science and history, scored an average of 151 points higher than those who did not.

Since 2006, when the writing section was added and the test began scoring on a 2400-point scale, the average SAT score has fallen nine points. Most colleges, including Middlebury, accept either the ACT or SAT, and a growing minority no longer requires either one.

— The Huffington Post

College students edit Wikipedia

The Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that oversees the popular Web site Wikipedia, has begun using university students to edit their online content.

Since its creation nearly a decade ago, the Web site has evolved into one of the most commonly used by students at ever level of education.  It is also widely regarded as one of the least accurate sources in works-cited pages.

Professors from George Washington University, Georgetown University, Syracuse University, Indiana University at Bloomington and Harvard University opted to integrated Wikipedia-related assignments into their courses.

Dr. Donna Infeld, director of the Master of Public Policy program at George Washington University had “no clue if students would want to participate” when she introduced the extra-credit work in a graduate course on public policy this summer. About half of her class opted to participate.

“Students knew that their content might be criticized, and it was exciting for them,” said Infeld. “They gained confidence because they had something to contribute to Wikipedia’s marketplace of ideas.”

— The GW Hatchet

Northwestern begs for money to improve rankings

In a recent e-mail message titled "US News & World Report Rankings and Alumni Giving," the number 12-ranked university directly appealed to alumni by asking for contributions in order to secure a higher spot on the prestigious rankings list.

"If we, as undergraduate alumni, increased our giving to 40 percent annually, we could radically improve Northwestern's standing in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. ... Your gift of any size has a direct impact on these rankings," wrote administrators in an email.

Northwestern’s current rate of giving is about 31 percent.

Although Northwestern did receive responses from some alumni who stated that they didn't care about rankings, the e-mail was opened more than other electronic appeals and resulted in more gifts.

"I think the positive results outweigh any kind of negative feedback," said Sarah R. Pearson, vice president for alumni relations and development.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education