SAT scores in decline at AUBG

Scores alone do not indicate the potential of the students. - Melnikliyska
Martin Angelov
October 10, 2009

 

SAT Scores graph

Average SAT Score of Entering Class

Admissions Office statistics for Fall 2009 semester register a 13 percent drop in the AUBG acceptance rate when compared to the previous year. However, this year's average Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score of 1,141 is the lowest recorded for the last decade (the previous one being 1,147 in 2002/03).

Excluding the current academic year, AUBG students' overall acceptance rate has seen an increase over the last five years, according to the statistics presented by the AUBG Institutional Research Center (IRC). The average SAT score of entering students is 50 points lower than it was five years ago.

AUBG's minimum SAT requirement of 1,000 "is one of the highest for American universities abroad - or in the [United States], particularly when we consider that our SAT takers are non-native speakers of English," Admissions Office Director Yordanka Melnikliyska said. "A third of the students at some very strong American universities abroad would not qualify for admission to AUBG," she added.

"The average SAT [score] has declined primarily because students with very high standardized test scores have more options now than they used to," Melnikliyska said. Now, more universities in Europe and in the United States are offering financial aid packages to high-scoring students, she added.

Out of the 517 applicants this year, 289 got accepted (56 percent) while 225 actually enrolled in the university (44 percent). The acceptance rate for the previous academic year was 69 percent, compared to 46 percent in the 2005/06 academic year.

The acceptance rate is high because most applicants meet AUBG standards, Melnikliyska explained. "The percentage [of students] who are accepted does not mean anything by itself, if all the students qualify. Theoretically, it could be 100 percent if all requirements are met," she added.

"If there is a trend related to students' grades in the last couple of years, I would say that the quality is slowly going down," statistics professor Ljuben Mutafchiev said. "It seems to me that the grades in the range of B+ have been decreasing. There are either excellent students or lazy ones who just don't take the subject seriously," he added.

Melnikliyska rejected the idea of a correlation between the students' entering SAT scores and their final standing in classes. "Scores alone do not indicate the potential of the students and thus do not affect the quality of the educational process," Melnikliyska said. "If we had all students with 1,300 SATs who did not want to do any work, [...] the SAT score would not be enough to make the educational process high quality - it takes student commitment," she added.

Comments

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG

Dear Defacto, I would like to ask you to start thinking more on the quality of your articles. This piece vividly indicates the negative attitude present within defacto staff towards the AUBG administration. First of all - start learning how to use GOOGLE - a simple search would have given you the following links: 1. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883611.html 2. http://chronicle.com/article/Average-Scores-on-SAT-Dropped/39466 CONCLUSION: You don't need a Ph.D. at MIT in Brains Theory to understand that the SAT average scores have dropped all over the world - AUBG no exception. I am tired of waiting for Ivaylo Vasiliev to write an opinion piece - contrary to the community belief, I do like his pieces - well thought, with a little bit of personal touch, backed up with arguments and possible solutions. With a deep sense of regret I have to admit that after Andrei Rusanovschi - defacto have stopped being a major force within the AUBG community - and unfortunately your editor-in-chief cannot manage the human resources she has at her disposal - Erka Mato, Raman Faminou and Shkamb Qavdarbasha - and you don't need anyone else if you can manage them correctly - reporting is not about editing, it's about thinking. Alas, Happily I shall always browse through your web-site - it brings back some nostalgia... P.S. Yordanka, why are you even wasting your time trying to explain them the admission process if they don't even listen and don't want to acknowledge the intricacies lying behind an admission application?
Submitted by Anonymous on October 11, 2009 - 14:01.

Clearification needed

Dear raging commentator, I somehow failed to see your point.

Is it that the story is bad?

or

Is it that you personally have anything against the editorial team?

or

Is it that you need to tell the world about your fanatical adoration for a certain person?

or

Is it that you simply are frustrated with the lack of peace in the world, and maybe lack of sex in your life?

Whatever that might be, I would advise you to understand that the comment area is a public space, where readers can leave their personal reaction to the articles. Nevertheless, this does not imply letting out all sorts of uncontrolled rants. Respect your fellow readers and the work of student reporters.

Submitted by Anonymous on October 12, 2009 - 09:31.

infantile

As any of the readers, you are entitled to an opinion which, I am sure, the editorial team will take into consideration. However, you are bringing about issues irrelevant to the article posted above. A constructive criticism would not only suffice, but also help. Instead, you point fingers, reminisce about the good old times , make personal attacks and transform this comment space in one of your shrink sessions..where apparently all of your anxieties and built-in anger burst with flames. Take a nap, drink some tea, join a club and at least have the decency to leave your name next time. It's always easy to leave a harsh criticism without taking responsibility for it. Rodica P.
Submitted by Anonymous on October 12, 2009 - 02:19.

Not constructive criticism

I am sorry, but I totally disagree with you. The article, although it may have its faults, is balanced and well-researched. SAT scores dropping all around the world does not make SAT scores dropping at AUBG less important. (That's like saying that swine flu cases occurring all around the world mean that swine flu cases in Bulgaria should not be covered). It may even indicate a trend, which would be interesting to report on. As for defacto declining in quality after the Rusanovski era ...geez, you must have been at AUBG for a veeery long time! Because otherwise: A. you could not know what impact defacto had then, or B. you don't really know how influential defacto is now. And if influence is measured by the number of readers, I can assure you readership has increased, not declined. One more point - Yordanka, you should know by now that defacto, as any student publication, is a learning environment. May student reporters be right or wrong, knowledgeable or not that much, they ARE listening and learning. And the process of reporting on articles is helping them develop skills that will make them more successful in their future career, and thus more likely to make AUBG proud. The time this gentleman/lady says you are wasting, is time well spent.
Submitted by Anonymous on October 12, 2009 - 01:12.

Disagree

Dear Anonymous, I disagree. This story in no way represents our negative attitude towards the administration. The report from Institutional Research Center came out, and we considered the trend of SAT scores important enough to be covered in an article. However, there is not a hint of opinion from Martin in this news story - he is merely stating the facts. In fact, the people who were interviewed were chosen carefully so there is no uneducated opinion (as in, scores drop so we are getting more stupid). These sources (Yordanka in particular) explained the trend clear enough, in my opinion. That is why I think your comments about the quality of this particular article are very offensive to the newspaper and wrong. You are right about SAT scores dropping all over the world. However, the links which you provided yourself indicate a change in SAT scores of within 30-35 points in 33 years (the news link states the scores dropped three points in a year). What we see at AUBG is a 74-point (1215-1141) decrease in six years, which makes it an average of 12.3 points per year. This tendency is, in our opinion, important to examine considering the overall average change in scores. I hope you agree with that. But again, there is no negative connotation from the reporter's side. Writing that the scores are decreasing is just statement of facts, not opinion. As to your comment about our editor-in-chief and her use of resources, I disagree again. She is incredibly efficient at organizing the team. And please do not make an assumption that we only edit and don't think. We made quite a few tough editorial decisions this year, and we are super careful at selecting and publishing the stories.
Submitted by Roma on October 11, 2009 - 20:57.

AUBG Debate Open

Guys, That's a lot of reading and interesting twist of ideas. Romka, this year please make sure you are participating at the AUBG Debate Open - it would be a pitty to let Ivaylo, Edlira, Erta, Ermela and many others graduate without one final challenge :) Good night... Best, Alexandru Panici
Submitted by Anonymous on October 12, 2009 - 02:06.