Torch program lights their way to college

Ana Hidalgo's grades and SAT scores weren't anything special. But Northeastern University decided that a student who had worked full time to support her disabled mother in Lawrence and studied by street light when the power went out was special indeed.

They awarded her a Torch scholarship, part of an innovative program for low-income, first-generation college students who have battled through adversity. Unlike scholarships that reward academic achievement, the second-year Torch program searches for students with bright potential that has been dimmed by hard circumstances.

"They thought if I could focus more on my studies I would excel," said Hidalgo, a 20-year-old about to start her sophomore year. "It was a hard transition at first, but I always had a lot of hope I could do well."

The program began last year and now includes 25 students, most of them members of minority groups who have attended urban schools.

The 14 incoming students are now attending mandatory summer classes and are being mentored by some of last year's winners.

Northeastern officials describe the admissions process -- which includes a personality test, extensive interviews, and leadership exercises -- as the first of its kind, and hope it could become a national model if the students are successful.

To identify promising students, Northeastern has developed an unconventional system that downplays the importance of grades and standardized test scores. Known in education circles as a "noncognitive" approach, it seeks to find talented students with the confidence and determination to rise above tough backgrounds and flourish in college.

"These are students who are tenacious and very talented, but for one reason or another have spotty academic records," said Philomena Mantella, Northeastern's senior vice president for enrollment management and student life who founded and coordinates the Torch program.

Several national education groups and local universities said they were not aware of a similar scholarship program, but said colleges are increasingly questioning whether grades and test scores tell the whole story, particularly for poor and minority students from urban schools.

"They are realizing the traditional system really doesn't work, so they have to do something different," said William Sedlacek, author of "Beyond the Big Test: Noncognitive Assessment in Higher Education." "The way to do that is take a more comprehensive approach."

Tufts University, for instance, allows applicants to answer essay questions designed to evaluate creative and analytical skills.

Judging their responses has helped Tufts attract better students overall and significantly more minority students, said Robert Sternberg, a Tufts dean and a specialist in the field.

"By measuring these skills, you can predict success much better than simply looking at grades and SATs," he said. "It's about looking at students in a much broader way."

But the College Board, which administers the SAT, said performance on the standardized tests strongly correlates with college success.

"The SAT score and high school GPA together are the best predictor of college freshman grade point average," said Nancy Viggiano, a College Board spokeswoman. "Nothing else comes close."

Sternberg said that personality tests are not typically used to predict academic success and that he doubted that the program could be used more broadly to select students.

Northeastern applicants are given a personality test to measure traits such as resolve, resourcefulness, and leadership ability and then are interviewed about their background and goals. They participate in role-playing exercises, meet with current students, even choose a friend, teacher, or relative to speak to administrators on their behalf.

School officials are tracking how the students fare academically to test how well the screening process predicts college success, and what personal attributes have the strongest correlation.

So far, the results are promising. Despite lower high school grades and SAT scores than their Northeastern peers, all 11 students in the second-year program completed their first year this spring, more than half with at least a B average.

Including the 14 incoming students, Torch scholars scored nearly 300 points below Northeastern's median SAT score (970 compared to 1250), and had lower high school grades (3.2 compared to 3.6).

Of the 25 students, 16 are African-American or Hispanic, and many learned English as a second language.

The summer program also builds camaraderie, captured by students' rallying cry, "No Torchie Left Behind." At a class this week, they bonded over their shared trials and fresh starts.

"I've been through a lot; all of us had," Glenny Reynoso, 18, of Boston told the incoming class of 14 students. "But you can never appreciate the good, unless you see the bad. I've learned it's not what you go through; it's how you overcome it."

For Hidalgo, growing up in a chaotic public housing project in Lawrence made it hard to concentrate on her studies. But she earned a scholarship to a parochial high school and graduated with a B average, often doing her homework after her waitress shift ended at midnight.

"Dwelling on things makes you weaker," Hidalgo said. "No matter what happens, you have to overcome them."