UC should bring back the SAT to its admissions decisions

The experiment in ignoring standardized tests has failed. Continuing it is a disservice to unprepared students.

- WILLIAM LIANG GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

AT THE sixth-ranked American public university, UC San Diego, a quarter of students taking a remedial math course placement exam couldn't solve for x in this equation: 7 + 2=x + 6.

A third couldn’t subtract 1/3 from 3/4, and fewer than half could round a six-digit number to the nearest hundred, according to the school’s recent viral report.

The remedial course — Math 2 — was designed for less than 1% of freshmen. Five years ago, enrollment stood at 32. By 2025, that number had reached almost a thousand. The number of first-year students at UCSD performing below the middle school math level increased thirtyfold in that period, to 1 in 8 freshmen. Every UC campus is seeing the same trend, if not always at this scale.

Over the last few weeks, outlets far and wide agreed that the UC system brought the disastrous numbers upon itself by eliminating standardized test requirements from the admissions process — a step many universities took early in the pandemic — and by refusing to reinstate them as many other universities have, because at least it turns out those tests provide valuable insights about preparedness and likelihood to succeed in college. Even UCSD's Workgroup on Admissions, which produced the report, suggested the university should at least “examine” restoring the exams.

As a high school junior who sees UC San Diego as a terrific school, I was stunned by the findings about how many students are so ill-prepared for college. I have to wonder: After most other elite colleges’ admissions departments have reinstated testing requirements, why is the University of California system still test-blind?