Accusations of bias against women and minority groups and an unreasonable emphasis on test scores in admissions practices have long surrounded the tests necessary for entrance to most colleges. Now, a similar and growing wave of criticism seems ready to wash over the standardized tests required for admission to graduate programs.
In Texas, a new state law bans graduate and professional schools at state universities from using standardized tests as the primary factor in deciding to reject applications.
Proponents of the bill hope it will increase the number of black and Hispanic students in the state's schools after their numbers dropped sharply following a 1996 federal appeals court decision, known as Hopwood, banned the use of race in admissions.
The controversy comes at a time when applications to the nation's graduate schools are rising, as many college graduates wait out the weakening economy. The University of Chicago business school, for example, saw a 100 percent jump in applications.
According to a 1999 study in Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, the percentage of blacks enrolled at the 25 most selective medical schools would drop from ten percent to one percent under admissions in which Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores are of primary importance.
Blacks and Hispanics tend to score lower on the graduate admissions tests than their white peers. Lower income students and women typically do worse as well.
This is the fault of the tests used to determine graduate admissions, according to Robert Schaeffer, public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, also known as FairTest.
The tests have an inherent "bias of formatting and timing," Schaeffer said. "They are fast paced multiple choice exams with a premium on strategic guessing."
This emphasis on making fast paced decisions on multiple-choice questions favors white males, Schaeffer said.
"Males and whites are more inclined to guess and move on. Women tend to look for shades of gray, nuances and subtleties. Which is a good skill in graduate school and life but won't get you points on the test," he said.
Because of this test bias, women and minorities do not gain acceptance to graduate schools even though they may be more likely to succeed, he said. "The skills and mindsets necessary to do well on the test are not those to do well in graduate school... They end up excluding females and non-whites who could do as well as the males and whites that they've admitted."
Dr. Susan Swayze, director of research studies at the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the GMAT, says the test is necessary for business school applications and that there is no bias.
"What makes the standardized tests so useful is the very fact that they are standardized. They cut across all lines... It helps to suggest something that is equal to everyone, they have the same testing conditions," she said.
Representatives from graduate schools say they do not view the required tests as the most important aspect of an applicant's application. The GMAT is "just one way of evaluating academic potential," Mark Meyerrose, associate director of admissions at Dartmouth's Tuck Business School, said.
Meyerrose said that the GMAT is a good predictor of a person's academic success during their first year. "That's the basis behind using the GMAT... We do feel that it is a good predictor, it is a helpful tool in evaluating someone's academic potential," he said.
Meyerrose added that "the GMAT is one part of the application. It is not definitive, it is not decisive." The admissions department looks at a wide variety of factors, such as strength of courses and opportunities taken, to evaluate an applicant's academic potential and success. And, he added, "personal background does factor into that."
