The future of college admissions?

Inside Higher Ed had an interesting article today regarding the approach that Tufts University is taking in their admissions process. Basically Tufts is still using grades and test scores as a filter to determine automatic admits and automatic application rejections. However, for the vast middle group of applicants, Tufts is asking students to respond to additional essay questions specifically designed to identify applicants with abilities that Tufts would find attractive in a student. The essay questions are meant to identify students who are creative, possess practical skills or who have wisdom about how to promote the common good.

It will be interesting to see how this approach to admissions works but the early indications from Tufts is that they are still getting high quality students who have that something extra that colleges are looking for in students. Moreover, this approach has increased the number of under represented students on campus. According to the article, at least one other college, the University of Washington is examining Tufts approach to see if it can be used at other colleges. We’ll see if this is a new trend in how to evaluate students.