When I took my SAT Math II Subject test in Oct 2016 during my junior year, I know I have updated my profile to 11th grade. Two weeks after I took the test, I got a 780 and I saw that college board recorded me as an 8th grader. I thought it was just a glitch in the system so I ignored it. Unfortunately, when I opened up my college board account to submit my sat scores to my colleges, It was not there. I called them and asked them what is going on. They told me that even though they knew I took it in 11th grade because they recorded it as 8th grade, They deleted it and there is no way of retrieving it. I was really mad and they said that all they could do was apologize. Technically they are the fault in this situation and are jeopardizing my chances of getting into a really good college and my future. Is it justified to sue them?
I am guessing if you read the fine print of your relationship with them when you sign up for tests, you will find that they have boxed you out of suing for this somehow. It is a crappy situation for you, though.
Do you have any proof of your score (screen print, email, paper mail, reported to your school, etc)? Any proof that you registered for the test date and showed up that day? Options you have:
- Use any documentation you have to provide to schools with explanation that CollegeBoard thought your scores were 8th grade scores and accidentally deleted them. If you have a printout of the score, proof you registered for that date, and could get something from CollegeBoard agreeing that you at least showed up to test on that date, you might be able to avoid retesting. Schools might accept that.
- Ask CB to seat you with a fee waiver for the Nov 4 subject test date and take it again, and they should rush-ship the scores for you to any EA or RD schools.
The legal system is slow and expensive. My guess is the time is better spent doing what you can to submit a strong application, and the money is better spent on college visits, application fees, and tuition.
If there is any paper trail on your end proving your score, you can send copies of it with a strongly-written letter (possibly, but not necessarily, lawyer-written) asking for the score to be restored. However, it’s probably not worth it to actually file a suit.
I know my proctor
That probably isn’t a lot of help… you might ask your HS guidance counselor for advice and help.
What are you going to sue them for? I mean what are the damages? I suppose they could offer you a refund or waive fees in the future, but to sue them you would have to show what type of damages you incurred and apart from inconvenience and stress, I would think you won’t have a lot of evidence. You would never be able to prove that a certain college did not accept you because of that missing score.
Your situation is certainly frustrating and it is hard to believe there is not some archive of your score somewhere at the College Board, but legal action is likely not to be productive. You may want to try and bring it to the attention of someone more senior at College Board, to see if the score can be retrieved.
Yes, that is another tactic. Politely start asking to speak to the person’s manager you are talking to. Explain your situation, and say you assume there is a way for CB to retrieve that info from backups if they really need to. Keep doing that until they either help you or won’t pass you up. If your parents are supportive and you think they would be more effective, I think this is okay to ask them to help. Whoever calls should:
- Keep their cool. Calmly explain that a mistake was made, apparently by CB, and you need that score restored.
- If you get the last person and they won’t pass you up and say they can’t help you, then fall back to asking for some documentation (an email, etc) that this happened so you can explain to colleges why you only have one score. (Again, you are helped if you have any proof at all that you registered and took the test on that date).
- Your HS GC might be able to call and get somewhere that you can’t (talk to someone or get some action). Again… ANY proof (your registration email, etc) that you were registered for that date helps a lot.
I can sue them for basically damaging the likelihood of me getting into a college that I want to which will in turn damage my future.
they know that I took it and they know that they deleted it and they know it was their mistake, and all they said was “all I can do is apologize,” I really thought this was unfair and really ignorant. This is brought to my attention the lack of empathy college board has for its customers.
Do you have the money to hire a lawyer and the time necessary to pursue a lawsuit? If not, you can’t sue them. I won’t even comment on whether or not you have grounds to sue. People have given you advice on what to do. Listen to them and stop the nonsense about suing.