College has ALL of her ACT scores -- but we requested only 1?

<p>DD has applied to a midwestern university. When I checked the status of her application recently, I noticed they had ALL 4 of her ACT scores (from each time she took the test.) </p>

<p>We only requested that her scores from the last time she took the test (since these scores were best.) HOW did they end up with all 4? </p>

<p>FYI -- this particular school was a last-minute decision and we DID NOT request the scores be sent to this particular school when she registered to take the ACT. I had to request after the fact and paid $15.00 to have the scores expedited. </p>

<p>Can universities request copies of the score reports themselves? Or did the ACT org. make a collossal mistake? I'm really worried this coulod jeopadize her admission chances!</p>

<p>Did her transcript have her scores on them? My S's did, they were on the back of his transcript. BTW, his ACT score was much higher than his SAT or PSAT. He was admitted to all of his choices, in fact his GC was certain that they only use the highest score and do not factor in other lower scores.</p>

<p>yes, check with your GC and ask for a copy of the transcript -- many HS's add test scores to the official record (which they should not, IMO).</p>

<p>That was my thought as well. Maybe they lifted the unofficial numbers from the transcript and plugged them in. This is one of Xiggi's pet peeves -- there is no reason for a transcript to contain ACT or SAT scores. If they do, you have every reason and right to ask that they be removed.</p>

<p>It doesn't look like scores from a particular test date can be sent. All scores currently in the College Board database, for the test requested, will be sent !!!</p>

<p>...from the College Board website...</p>

<p>Sending</a> Your Scores</p>

<p>Important notes:[ul][li]We send a cumulative report of all scores. You cannot send only your latest or highest scores, or separate scores for critical reasoning, writing, or math, or only SAT Reasoning Test or only SAT Subject Tests scores. </p>[/li]
<p>[li]Only score reports from completed and scored tests will be sent to the colleges and scholarship programs you select. Scores from future tests for which you registered, but have not yet completed, will not be included. Check your My SAT page to see which scores are available to send. </p>[/li]
<p>[*]Your scores are maintained on active file for one year after your high school graduation, or for one school year following your test date if you tested after high school. Please see Archived Scores for more information if you last tested more than a year ago.[/ul]</p>

<p>Yes, the OP asked for ACT scores to be sent, and with the ACT you can select which one you want sent. (With the SAT, it's all or nothing)</p>

<p>opps, sorry, I must learn how to read...</p>

<p>I would also guess that the scores were on the high school transcript. I know our high school has SAT, ACT, and AP scores on the transcript.</p>

<p>D's high school also routinely sends all test scores including PSAT. She requested that they send only the highest of her 2 ACT scores and as far as we know, that was done. She also sent unofficial transcripts for scholarship and honors program applications and we copied the transcripts and covered the earlier scores that she did not wish to be transmitted so that they would not appear.</p>

<p>My daughter also discovered, to her horror, that the transcript sent out to her EA school had all scores on the transcript. She asked that the scores be removed after that, an as far as we know, they were. But it is one of those things that you have to be alert to if for any reason your kids scores aren't all as perfect as you would like. </p>

<p>On the other hand, it can be a money-saving advantage to those with uniformly high scores, and can also give a student an opportunity to apply to more safety schools without the added expense of paying for score reports. So a mixed bag. </p>

<p>Moral: Check school policy well before the first transcripts need to go out.</p>

<p>"This is one of Xiggi's pet peeves -- there is no reason for a transcript to contain ACT or SAT scores."</p>

<p>I'm glad that Lderochi did not say that it was one of my MANY pet peeves!</p>

<p>On a serious note, allow me to repeat that there is NO reason why a high school should include ANY of the standardized tests' scores on their transcript, nor do they have ANY right to do so. The testing scores are privileged and confidential information that need the APPROVAL of its owner to be disseminated. To make things worse, the test scores SHARED by the high schools are NOT official nor will the high school accept any responsibilities for possible errors. </p>

<p>Do yourself a huge favor: ask the high school to ONLY include the high school information on the transcript, and make them remove pictures and any personal information about race or family composition. If they balk about the scores, tell them that you'll notify the College Board or NACAC and report it as a VIOLATION of your privacy rights. The high schools receive the data only for information purposes and not for further distribution. Also, notify the school that you want to inspect any mailings originating from the school. The school has the right to send confidential information such as LOR, but you're entitled to know what is sent on your behalf since you need to authorize it in the first place. I am NOT suggesting to start WW3 over this, but a firm and polite request should suffice to make the HS understand that YOU are in charge of your college applications and not a mere bystander. </p>

<p>PS A good step is to NEVER list your high school in any of the standardized tests, except for the PLAN and PSAT where you do not have this luxury.</p>

<p>Agree with Xiggi (didn't we discuss this here 2 years ago?)</p>

<p>We had a similar issue with my son's transcript showing standardized test scores and only showing his lowest SAT score. When I asked the counselor about it I got a "well, we just put the stickers they send us on the transcript, but I don't know where his other score sticker is." The day before a mother had told me one of her son's transcripts went out with only one of his ACT scores on it. So straight to the principal I went. She knew the scores of 3 students and pulled their transcripts - 2 of 3 had incomplete scores on them. </p>

<p>After several discussions I finally got the school to agree to not put the scores on the transcripts. </p>

<p>Also, our school's procedure was to list on the transcript every college/scholarship/summer program where they had sent a transcript. I got that stopped too. </p>

<p>Make sure you see your transcripts long before they are sent, and make sure you know what is on them.</p>

<p>in today's world of declining education budgets, why any school district would waste time and effort (meaning money) to place stickers on hundreds of transcripts is beyond comprehension.</p>

<p>Yeah, except it's 2,000+ transcripts! And multiple stickers for many of them.</p>

<p>While I fully agree with xiggi's perspective and understand midwestmom's legitimate upset about some entity's breach of policy, I have a different perspective on the matter. Frankly, I prefer the SAT's policy to the ACT's policy. If a student takes the test multiple times, this can provide helpful information to a college about the student. </p>

<p>That is, a student who takes the test 6 times, with increasing scores over the course of 18 months is probably dedicating time and resources to this effort. This is different situation--not necessarily better or worse--than the kid who takes the test just once. </p>

<p>My D was in the "I'll take it once" category. For many reasons, she really dislikes the standardized testing process. Fortunately, she did well on the SAT and then turned her attention to other aspects of life and school. (She didn't even look at the ACT.) I think this fact--that she took the test once and thus didn't spend her Senior year working on her SATs--is a reasonable piece of information for the college admissions committee to know. </p>

<p>As to the notion of her HS transcript including this information, I would fully agree that it should not be there.</p>

<p>Oh, Xiggi I don't think the server could handle a comprehensive list of your pet peeves :) </p>

<p>At some point I want to start a thread that begins "Jay Mathews had a well-written column today about Ph.D. rates versus pell grant recipient rates . . . " Just to see if I could hear the screaming from California to Delaware.</p>

<p>LD, by now, you probably could paraphrase my entire reply. At least, I cannot be blamed for not being consistently predictable or predictably consistent. :D</p>

<p>Ld:</p>

<p>for REAL fun, make sure you throw in Swathmore, Smith and Bush. LOL</p>

<p>I wouldn't worry. As said earlier, colleges look at highest numbers. Colleges know that kids these days take the SAT and ACT numerous times starting in grade school. Therefore, colleges are used to seeing a rising tide of scores (and they also understand that a recent "lower" score could just be the result of a "sick day" or some other logical reason.)</p>