CSUN University News Clippings

New ‘potential’ index looks at what admissions tests can’t

(July 9, 2009)

By Mary Beth Marklein

A new type of admissions index introduced Tuesday can help the USA’s graduate schools determine whether an applicant has personal attributes like resilience and creativity, which can’t be measured by standardized admission tests. And it’s just a matter of time before undergraduate admissions offices have a similar means at their disposal, says the testing company that designed the tool.

The Educational Testing Service Tuesday launched its “Personal Potential Index,” an online-based system through which an applicant can be evaluated by his or her supervisors or professors on six “soft skills” — non-cognitive qualities that studies have suggested are related to success in either higher education or the workplace.

They are:

•Knowledge/creativity;

•Communication skills;

•Teamwork;

•Resilience;

•Planning/organization and

•Ethics/integrity.

Students who register for the GRE have the option of creating a PPI profile. They identify up to five people — typically professors or supervisors — who are then invited to evaluate the students on the six attributes. That information is scored by ETS and sent to schools designated by the applicant. The student can send up to four reports free.

For now, students who register for the Graduate Record Examination have the option of participating. But ETS vice president David Payne says its surveys of 225 graduate program administrators found that about 75% anticipated requiring such information within three years.

Also, he says, ETS has “discussed with a number of groups” the possiblity of developing a similar tool for undergraduates. He anticipates “that this will become part of undergraduate admissions … within the next several years.”

Publication: USA Today