By Christy McConnaughey
The Write Start program, which accepted students who scored lower on their SATs than the minimum University requirement, is not longer accepting new incoming freshman. The class of 2007 will be the last to have the Write Start option.
The Liberal Arts and Sciences Association wants to improve the statistical quality of the University, the school board said.
The minimum SAT scores required to be accepted into the University have been raised 65 points and the average score of students is around an 1100, Dr. Bernard Firestone, dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences said.
“Raising the SAT scores is to the advantage of every student at Hofstra,” Firestone said.
The goal is to raise the value of the University’s degree and the image of the students, he said.
The Write Start program started in 1997 to allow students who scored low on the SATs to have a chance to pursue their highest potential at the University. Only 20 students were admitted into the program the first year. By the 2002-2003 school year there were well over 200 students.
Those who have experienced the program said it really helped get them where they needed to be.
“I think it forced me to write better papers,” Christopher Navarro, a sophomore BCIS major said, “and the tutorials helped me learn to make better corrections.”
Vincent Cona, a junior accounting major agreed the program greatly improved his essay writing.
“I scored a B+ in the English class I took after my Write Start sessions,” he said.
Write Start students are only permitted to take 13 credits and classes begin and end three weeks earlier than normal class sessions. They are also assigned tutorial sessions once a week.
Sophomore, Michael Puzzo disapproved of theses limitations.
“I didn’t like the assigned 13 credits,” he said. “I was perfectly capable of handling another three credits.”
He did agree, however, the less credits gave him time to concentrate on other school work and he had less to worry about during the semester.
“I think the 13 credits should have been optional,” Cona said. “It would have put me right where I am supposed to be credit wise.”
Overall, the program was beneficial to the majority of students Firestone said.
“As a program, we were not dissatisfied.”