Question

Is intelligence testing a useful method of measuring a person's potential for academic achievement? Should colleges and universities base admissions more on SAT and ACT scores or high school grades and activities? What other ways might colleges and universities predict student success?

Answer 1

One of the most important things about academic success is one’s interest in the subject one chooses to learn. This would mean even without high scores in the intelligence tests or entrance tests one would be able to perform far better than those who scored more on these tests if one is really interested in learning. Secondly, all the intelligence tests test the mere theoretical knowledge of the students who could memorize facts and figures while they fail to acknowledge students who are more practical but not able to put them in a test. Thirdly, education is only a tool to get oneself to the next level and selecting high scoring students and training them is relatively easy for the educational institutions than training those who are not. Thus, these tests establish more inequality and injustice to those who wish to pursue education. It’s not just the test scores but the attitudes, personality and interests of the students that would make a real difference in the students’ learning.

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