College Admissions for the 21st Century

by Robert J. Sternberg

SATs, ACTs, GPAs. Everyone knows that these scores can't tell a college everything that's important about an applicant. But what else should admissions officers look for, and how can they know it when they see it? In "College Admissions for the 21st Century" a leading researcher on intelligence and creativity offers a bold and practical approach to college admissions testing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Robert J. Sternberg's spectacular research career in psychology had a rather inauspicious beginning. In elementary school he performed poorly on IQ tests, and his teachers' actions conveyed their low expectations for his future progress. Everything changed when his fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Alexa, saw that he had potential and challenged him to do better. With her encouragement, he became a high-achieving student, eventually graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University. In a gesture of gratitude, Dr. Sternberg dedicated his book, Successful Intelligence to Mrs. Alexa.

Dr. Sternberg's personal experiences with intelligence testing in elementary school lead him to create his own intelligence test for a 7 th grade science project. He happened to find the Stanford-Binet scales in the local library, and with unintentional impertinence, began administering the test to his classmates; his own test, the Sternberg Test of Mental Abilities (STOMA) appeared shortly thereafter. In subsequent years he distinguished himself in many domains of psychology, having published influential theories relating to intelligence, creativity, wisdom, thinking styles, love and hate.

Dr. Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of (Successful) Intelligence contends that intelligent behavior arises from a balance between analytical, creative and practical abilities, and that these abilities function collectively to allow individuals to achieve success within particular sociocultural contexts. Analytical abilities enable the individual to evaluate, analyze, compare and contrast information. Creative abilities generate invention, discovery, and other creative endeavors. Practical abilities tie everything together by allowing individuals to apply what they have learned in the appropriate setting. To be successful in life the individual must make the best use of his or her analytical, creative and practical strengths, while at the same time compensating for weaknesses in any of these areas. This might involve working on improving weak areas to become better adapted to the needs of a particular environment, or choosing to work in an environment that values the individual's particular strengths. For example, a person with highly developed analytical and practical abilities, but with less well-developed creative abilities, might choose to work in a field that values technical expertise but does not require a great deal of imaginative thinking. Conversely, if the chosen career does value creative abilities, the individual can use his or her analytical strengths to come up with strategies for improving this weakness. Thus, a central feature of the triarchic theory of successful intelligence is adaptability-both within the individual and within the individual's sociocultural context.

Reviews

[jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book long before I started my application to the U.S. colleges in an attempt to grab an insider view to the process. I found this one very informative and effective for a high school student in a way that it has introduced to me the concept, the rationality behind all the tests, scores, extra-curricular activities, and that the process, after all, is there trying to get to know the student as much as possible.

[Montse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a refreshing perspective guided by the paradigm of critical theory and an intention to make college admissions more equitable, diverse, and effective. The author bases his argument on a self-devised “psychological theory of abilities,” or what he calls, “augmented theory of successful intelligence.” Successful intelligence has four components—analytical, creative, practical, and wisdom-based intelligence—and is meant to more accurately predict not only academic performance but also meaningful civic engagement and positive leadership. In other words, it is meant to better assess those skills required for a successful, meaningful, society-contributing life. Traditional psychometric intelligence assessments, like the SAT, ACT, and IQ tests, only measure analytical intelligence. As a result, Dr. Sternberg argues current admissions standards reify existing social stratification methods and (arguably) do not produce effective, wise social leaders. In effect, current admissions policies that over-emphasize analytical abilities lead to a direct failure in liberal arts colleges’ missions to produce civically engaged leaders of the future who are life-long learners.
It is important to note that Dr. Sternberg does not think tests like the ACT and SAT are inherently bad, but rather incomplete. The author provides a template for new admissions policies that correct this lack of holistic assessment. He furthermore provides strong research and pilot studies (at Tufts University) that confirm his theory’s impact on not only increasing the number and quality of applicants who matriculate, but also in significantly reducing gender and ethnic differences in assessments—with the overall effect of increasing college diversity while maintaining and even improving student performance upon matriculation.

Dr. Sternberg points out that the existing “merit based” assessment-based admissions policy trend was originally intended to increase diversity and dismantle the previous social-class based admission standard. However, due to a process called “closed system,” in which those who gain power access perpetuate in future applicants the very qualities they themselves value and possess, this originally equitable process has ended up effectively closing off entire classes of intelligence and disproportionately harming those from non-WASP, economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The author also makes a convincing argument for bridging admission policy to university curriculum. Currently, these two departments are largely separated in the field. But as Dr. Sternberg points out, this separation is not compatible with holistic admission policies, as students admitted with strong creative intelligence, for example, may find themselves in an environment that does not values such intelligence in the classroom, thus harming student performance. In other words, measures must be taken to ensure that the students are not set up for failure. Lastly, the author rightfully points out that his proposed and piloted alternative admission policies were only successful because they were part of a larger organizational restructuring that valued holistic student assessment, admission, and development. This included increased funding for minority students and a recruitment strategy that emphasized Tufts newly revitalized organizational commitment to holistic student development.

In conclusion, I believe “College Admissions for the 21st Century” not only challenges us to question our role in student affairs, but also our role in society at large. In so doing, it makes an important contribution not only to university admissions, strategic planning, and curriculum development, but also to society at large. Dr. Sternberg argues that a successful life requires creativity (to generate ideas), analytical abilities (to evaluate an idea’s merit), practical capabilities (to execute ideas and persuade others of their value), and wisdom (to ensure ideas are used ethically for society’s betterment). His work provides a compelling argument for integrating them to produce a more equitable and holistic admissions framework and curriculum that better reflect the goals and mission of liberal arts institutions the country over.

[McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for Sternberg's study of college admissions and how new types of tests could better predict which students will not only be successful in college, but in their careers afterwards. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling mildly disappointed in this book-- where I wanted more of the specifics of his research, he provided a very elementary-style, ambling discussion of various aspects of college and intelligence that never quite came together. I really feel that he might have benefitted from a better editor who cut out a lot of the unncessary (and bizarre) analogies and helped him stay on track. I am very interested in his research still, I just was hoping for a more academic discussion of this topic.

[Geoffrey Kabaservice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for the Yale Alumni Magazine in September 2010:

http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/art...