<p>My D took the SAT in Sept of her junior year...got an okay but not great score. She then took the ACT and got a 31 the first try and a 34 on the latest. When she sends scores to colleges, can she just write N/A next to SAT and send ACT only? </p>
<p>It depends on the school, she needs to go to the websites and read their test reporting requirements (Note: testing requirements and test reporting requirements can be different).</p>
<p>Many schools require that either the ACT or SAT be reported, but some (eg. Penn) schools require the entire testing history even though their testing requirement is satisfied by one or the other. Test reporting details are school specific, so it is essential to read all websites and not make generalizations.</p>
<p>While some schools may require you to send all your testing history (check the websites), there’s no possible way for them to know if you actually did send them it. So you could leave out all your tests except the 34 and the colleges would never know.</p>
<p>However, you don’t want it coming out in 3 or 4 years when your D might say to a friend that she didn’t send her entire test score history and then that friend tells the administration causing D to get kicked out of the school with no credit.</p>
<p>Interesting…okay, I will go investigate specific schools. i appreciate the insights! </p>
<p>Just make sure your HS transcript does not show any test score before you are trying to hide them. Also, there is no reason to lie. There are not many schools that want all scores anyway.</p>
<p>Please be aware that if your D does get into a school that requires all scores and they discover she did not send them she can be rescinded before matriculating, dismissed if discovered while she’s at the school, or have her diploma rescinded if discovered later. IMO it’s not worth the risk/reward. I don’t know of any reason why she would be dinged for a moderate SAT score with a great ACT.</p>
<p>Colleges fall into different categories:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Majority allow you to send whatever tests you want to send even though they may recommend sending all (a recommendation which need not be taken).</p></li>
<li><p>Minoirty fall intio the category referred to as “all scores” colleges but that is a misnomer because very few actually require all scores. Upenn is an example of a true all scores college in that it requires all SATs, all ACTs, and all SAT subject tests. Few are like that. Most all score colleges which do not require subject tests require all SATs if you send any SAT but you can instead send an ACT and you need send only one of those. However, Stanford, which recommends but does not require subject tests, requires you to provide all SATs and all ACTs but you can send whatever subject scores you want. Yale, a college that accepts the ACT in lieu of both the SAT and subject tests, requires you to provide all SATs and all subject tests if you send any SAT or subject test, but, alternatively, you can provide just all ACT scores.</p></li>
<li><p>In any event, be aware that all colleges profess that if you send multiple tests, they use your highest scores (either highest from one sitting or highest section scores from multiple sittings, depending on college) to determine admission, and thus low scores are not held against you. Because of human nature, most high school students have a hard time believing that is true. </p></li>
<li><p>Also be aware that many high schools put all your scores on the official high school transcript they send to colleges when you apply for admission, and thus if you attempt to withhold scores by not ordering them sent by the testing agency or not putting them in the application, you will be found out when your transcript arrives.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bottom line, before making any decison to withhold scores, you need to know both the rules of the college and what your high school does on your transcript. </p>
<p>May not be directly applicable to the OP, but I would like to share something that I learned recently by accident.</p>
<p>Even high schools that do not include test scores on transcripts may, if they reside in a state with required in-school testing, include scores from that in-school testing on the final transcript sent to the college where the student is enrolling.</p>
<p>For example, all Illinois HS students (who don’t receive exemptions) must take part in the Prairie State Achievement Examination, which includes an ACT test, to qualify for graduation. PSAE scores must be included on the student’s transcript as part of his/her permanent record. While this requirement does not directly apply to the ACT score that went along with the PSAE, some (many?) high schools include it on the final transcript by default (and at least one does not seek the required written consent to do so).</p>
<p>My experience is that most schools do not put test scores on transcripts and officials don’t really think about the PSAE when some asks about it (so they just say “no” and don’t elaborate).</p>
<p>okay, thank you new posters for this detail. I will say that it might discourage a kid from just trying out a test early (end of sophomore year or very beginning of junior) if he/she knows that their scores are visible forever (though as many of you note, not all colleges require/do this).</p>
<p>On the point: “In any event, be aware that all colleges profess that if you send multiple tests, they use your highest scores (either highest from one sitting or highest section scores from multiple sittings, depending on college) to determine admission, and thus low scores are not held against you. Because of human nature, most high school students have a hard time believing that is true.”</p>
<p>I’m not a high school student but I fall into this camp. If I were an admissions counselor, it would literally be impossible for me to not to notice (and have an opinion) on <em>all</em> scores…much like a jury is told to “ignore the testimony you just heard…”, I think it’s human nature o notice all (i.e. I would be more impressed with a 2200 on one sitting than a 2200 after 4 or 5 tries…) </p>
<p>I think it’s interesting to read what Pomona College has to say about this.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/admissions/apply/standardized-testing-reporting.aspx”>http://www.pomona.edu/admissions/apply/standardized-testing-reporting.aspx</a></p>
<p>Standardized Testing Reporting</p>
<p>SAT and SAT Subject Test Scores</p>
<p>Pomona College requires that applicants submit all SAT scores from all test dates. The admissions committee will consider your highest section scores across all SAT test dates.</p>
<p>Each time you submit scores, Pomona College will update your record with any new individual high scores. Sending your scores each time you take the SAT can benefit you by allowing Pomona College to fully consider your application in the context of your best testing performance.</p>
<p>Pomona believes a full testing history, like a full transcript, provides context for a fair evaluation for each candidate. Pomona has a strong interest in reviewing all our candidates with straightforward and common standards, which includes the presentation of all academic work from all schools attended and includes test scores from all examinations. If different students use different rules, establishing a fair and common set of considerations is seriously challenged. We wish to create as level a playing field as possible for our candidates and believe that students who cannot afford repeated testing or test preparation courses should not be considered with a different battery of information.
We also hope this policy will discourage too much testing. Our recommendation typically is that students should test twice. Some students will find more comfort in a third testing but testing many times only very, very rarely has produced measurably different results. We believe time is better spent elsewhere.
Test scores are only one element in a very thorough application review process and only with exceptional rarity have test results been the final decision point in our considerations.
The testing requirement applies equally to the ACT and the SAT and parallels our requirement that students submit full academic records for all schools attended.</p>
<p>ACT Scores</p>
<p>Pomona College requires that you submit all ACT scores from all test dates. Consistent with the ACT standards for acceptable use of ACT test scores, the admissions office will record the test date reflecting the highest composite score. We will consider all sittings and having all test scores from all dates permits the admissions deans further consideration of peak or higher sub-scores from other test dates as skill sets and performance are evaluated in our review process.</p>
<p>@SouthernHope: you point out that an “all scores” reporting requirement discourages students from trying out the test early, say in sophomore year. But there’s no reason a student can’t take a full length practice test under simulated test conditions to see how he or she will do. IMHO, that’s better than “practicing” repeatedly with the real SAT/ACT anyway. When my D took the SAT this past December (as a junior after taking many, many practice tests) she was shocked to see a freshman in the test room. He said his mom signed him up to “try it out.” He’s a smart kid with great potential but he scored in the 1500’s. I’m sure his mom had no idea she was creating a permanent testing record.</p>
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<p>In many admissions offices, the folks reviewing the applicant files will only see the best scores, even if multiple scores are sent, because that’s how the data is made available to them, especially if the files are all electronic. Obviously, in this situation, there is no chance that the admissions officer will not be able to ignore the lesser scores, as the lesser scores are never seen.</p>
<p>^^ I do think that is school specific. </p>
<p>Plus, not being initially presented is not the same as “they see if they ask for it.” </p>
<p>The other issue is many school transcripts list test scores and dates and those get sent with grades.</p>
<p>I know this personally because I was there when an admin officer at an admit day said to my older son, “You did pretty darn good for taking those tests but once.”</p>
<p>They know, if they want to know.</p>
<p>I think the Pomona process is pretty typical of schools that require all scores. Although they don’t say so directly, they are clearly not ignoring older and lower scores.</p>
<p>^^ Yep - they look for patterns, obviously.</p>
<p>Which is not to say that students should break the rules. It’s just that they should not follow the rules because they think old, lower scores will not hurt them*. They should follow the rules because it is dishonest not to do so. </p>
<p>Of course, in this grade grubbing, resume stuffing, essay ghost writing, test cheating, cliff note reading, future Wall Street and consulting rent seeking, future law school applying race to nowhere, the competition may not be operating at the same level of honor; but then again, I am a tried and convicted cynic and you won’t have a hard time find many to disagree with me around here.</p>
<p>*another common theme, which shows up in this thread and all over CC, is that schools may find out down the road and kick you out. With 6 year graduation rates being perhaps the most valuable metric to these highly selective schools, I find the likelihood of losing your diploma due to sending only 2 out of 3 ACT scores as a HS senior, well, somewhat unlikely, or, completely ridiculous. I doubt it has ever happened. Student should follow the rules because it is the right thing to do, not because of some irrational fear of future retribution.</p>
<p>^ One example. <a href=“Harvard Kennedy School Revokes Degree Awarded to Russian Spy | News | The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/7/16/school-degree-kennedy-name/</a></p>
<p>One example of what? Certainly not someone losing a degree for violating ‘score choice’ policy.</p>
<p>I do agree though, that students should definitely not apply under a fake name and spy for the Russians. Although even then there is probably a 50/50 chance they sweep it under the rug to avoid the embarrassment…</p>
<p>“I think it’s human nature o notice all (i.e. I would be more impressed with a 2200 on one sitting than a 2200 after 4 or 5 tries…)”</p>
<p>@southernhope - that is exactly why some schools are not score choice. They want to see the whole testing history since it is more impressive to see a single sitting 2200 than a 2200 that took 3-7 sittings to accomplish. They may look at the highest scores, but those scores are seen in context of all testing.</p>