And students in the top 10 percent of their high school class applying to Elizabethtown College can relax about verbal and math scores.

The two local colleges have modified the SAT portion of their college application process for students who will enroll in September 2007.

"SAT scores are very predictive, but there are exceptions," F&M vice president for enrollment and marketing Dennis Trotter said this week. "We are trying to capture the exceptions. There are a lot of students out there who feel their academic work is more reflective than their SAT score."

In the early 1990s, F&M became one of the first colleges to "de-emphasize" the SAT requirement by allowing students who were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class to opt out of sending their test scores.

McCaskey High School guidance counselor Carl Frederick said he had a student with a 4.67 GPA but SAT scores too low to be accepted into a school of F&M's caliber.

But the student was accepted last year to F&M solely on the success of his classroom work ethic.

"If you have a student who does very well in the classroom, (the SATs) shouldn't preclude them from admission to college," Frederick said. "It should be a tool to help, not hurt."

That's exactly F&M's goal.

All applicants will have the option not to submit their SAT scores. This would be advantageous for students with strong academics who perform poorly on standardized tests. In lieu of their SAT scores, they can send two graded writing assignments from high school.

But students who may not have done as well in high school but score high on the SATs still may submit their test results as part of their application.

"We want students to be able to present themselves in the best possible light," said Beth Midgett, Warwick High School guidance counselor. "It's nice to know there are different options."

At Elizabethtown College, high school students in the top 10 percent of their class or who have higher than a 3.5 GPA at schools that don't measure class rank will not have to submit their SAT scores.

"It rewards their high school experience, the hard work they've put in their classroom work," said Debra Murray, Elizabethtown director of admissions. "We're encouraging the strongest students to apply and letting everyone know we still expect the strongest academic criteria."

Students seeking placement in the college's honors program still will need to submit their SAT scores.

"It's an opportunity to look at the whole person and not just rely on numbers," Murray said. "(Students) could be very strong in the classroom, but for whatever reason don't test strongly on that four-hour test."

But Brian O'Reilly, executive director of SAT information services for the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns and administers the SAT, said that's "nonsense."

"It's kind of like saying I'm not a good public speaker, but I want to go into government," O'Reilly said. "(Poor test taking) is more of an issue than the SAT. It's going to have an impact on you in everything you do in college."

O'Reilly said the more than 100-year-old test remains the most accurate predicator of how a student will perform in college.

"There is nothing that even comes close," he said.

The test was created to "level the playing field" because all schools do not hold students to the same standards, he said.

Doug Zander, director of admissions at Millersville University, which has no plans to eliminate the SAT requirement, said the school weighs a student's academic performance first and board scores second when sifting through applications.

"I wish there was something else that we could use that could have a broader appeal," Zander said. "The problem with throwing (SATs) away entirely is that school districts are so unequal.

"There could be something better than SATs: (high) schools that were more equally funded so the preparation from the students was more relatively equivalent," he said.

But Trotter said it is the SAT that no longer provides a level playing field for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Students from more affluent families can more easily afford expensive coaching classes and preparation.

Studies show, he said, that disadvantaged students fare worse on the standardized tests.

"There are inherent problems, and we made it more fair," Trotter said. "We have absolutely wonderful students who, if we were depending on SAT scores, might not have been admitted."

Colby Itkowitz's e-mail address is citkowitz@lnpnews.com.

Submitting SAT scores is optional for all applicants. In lieu of SAT scores, a student must submit two graded writing assignments completed in high school.

All college applicants must submit SAT scores.

Students in the top 10 percent of their high school class, or those who have a 3.5 GPA or higher at schools that don't have class rank, have the option not to submit their SAT scores.