In assessing admissions, we should develop appropriate measures of success to determine what contributes to student performance in college. Too often the analysis is reduced to a critique of the Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of first-time freshmen. The SAT has limited value for predicting success in college, and should be only one variable in the admissions decision. Further, we enroll about 1,800 new freshmen each year, fewer than either new transfer or graduate students. How we recruit and admit these other students is equally important in assessing the role of admissions in determining educational quality.
Transfer students are a diverse group.
More than 1,000 are undergraduates from NOVA, and a similar number come from four-year colleges and universities. Some are returning to college as older adults. The new graduate students also encompass a broad range, coming directly from undergraduate experiences, as working professionals pursuing advanced degrees or midcareer professionals upgrading their knowledge and skills or changing career fields, or as adults wanting to enrich their lives. No single quantitative measure can be the admission standard for all students. In fact, the qualitative aspects of the admission process are worth consideration.