WICS: A Model for College and University Admissions

Abstract

This article outlines shortcomings of currently used university admissions tests and discusses ways in which they could potentially be improved, summarizing two projects designed to enhance college and university admissions. The projects were inspired by the augmented theory of successful intelligence, according to which successful intelligence involves creative, analytical, practical, and wisdom-based skills. In the Rainbow Project, we found that, through our measures, prediction of 1st-year students’ university grade point average was substantially increased over that provided by SAT and high school grade point average; ethnic-group differences, relative to SAT, were simultaneously reduced. In the Kaleidoscope Project, we found that students admitted for the set of expanded skills performed as well as or better than did other students, without the ethnic-group differences typically obtained in such measures. Enhanced prediction of active-citizenship and leadership activities was also demonstrated through these measures.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the Rainbow Project Collaborators and the Kaleidoscope Project Collaborators for making this research possible. We especially want to thank Elena Grigorenko, Linda Jarvin, and Steven Stemler. Preparation of this article was supported by CASL – IES grant R305H030281, ROLE – NSF grant REC 440171, and REESE – NSF grant REC 0633952. The Rainbow Project was supported by the College Board, and the Kaleidoscope Project has been supported by Tufts University and private donations to Tufts.