I should be in bed since I have to be up before the sun tomorrow for my 8 AM teaching class, but I couldn’t go to bed without talking (or in this case typing) about what I discovered tonight. Baylor University has been said to be “lowering their standards.”
In September of 2009, the first term or my freshman year, Baylor’s newspaper, The Lariat, published an article entitled, “Freshmen: Larger class, lower scores.” The article states that the average SAT scores of the incoming freshmen class (aka MY freshmen class) have lowered from 1210 to 1190. When the article came out it caused quite a fuss amongst the student body. Upper classmen were upset because they feel that the freshmen class of 2013 (again, MY freshmen class) is going to bring down the university as a whole and lower the university’s ratings. They complained that the students of our class should not make the university look bad as a whole just because our test scores are lower. I’ve even heard talk of some calling this class “dumber” than previous classes. Clearly they are more adept to the learning environment of Baylor than we are with our measly test scores. They use complex words such as “dumber” to describe the class of incoming freshmen. *Insert blank stare here*
I agree with this opinion that one class’s actions should not reflect the whole university in a negative way. But lets look at this in a different light. Some lower test scores should not change the opinion of all of the freshmen class. My SAT scores were higher than even last year’s average SAT scores for the incoming class of 2012. I do not appreciate that the freshmen class as a whole is being blamed for the slope in SAT score acceptance.
Can we also think about this from a practical point of view? Contrary to popular belief most of us did not pay our way into the school. Many students are, in fact, here on scholarships, myself included. Therefore we got into this university on our own. I just want to make the point clear that we did not force Baylor to accept these “lower test scores” and create a “dumber freshmen class that will make the school look bad as a whole.” Baylor University lowered their standards for acceptance. The university. The students of the freshmen class are not to blame for the slump in test scores. Its not that we scored lower than previous classes, its simply that Baylor has lowered their standards for acceptance. And while we’re being so honest we might want to accept the fact that Baylor most likely did this to bring in more revenue. I mean lets look at the facts, we are the largest freshmen class. Meaning there are a lot of tuitions being paid right now. Just an observation.
So please, before you criticize the freshmen class of 2013 at Baylor University, gather all the facts and consider that we aren’t “dumber,” Baylor is just adjusting their standards.
