I got an email from CollegeBoard saying that they cancelled my June registration.
Even though I already paid for it, they are refunding the fees and standing by their decision to cancel it.
They allowed a shoddy appeals process through a “verification form”.
I filled it out, but my appeal was subsequently rejected.
They are saying something about the new test security policy, but I can’t fathom why they would cancel my registration
I’m just a grade 12 student studying in an international school in Asia
There’s your problem. Too many testing centers in Asian countries have had their tests compromised. I presume that in this case, the College Board suspects the venue they hired for that test date is insecure.
@psungkr94, is the “94” in your screen name your birth year? If so, you were simply flagged because of your age, and your registration was automatically cancelled. If you’re really still in high school, I’m not sure why you should have lost the appeal. Possibly because the College Board is run by bumbling idiots.
No, seriously.
I’ve had the opportunity to review both the March U.S. test and the May international test, and trust me, the revised SAT is junk. Apparently, College Board took over from ETS the responsibility of actually writing the test content, and they don’t seem to be up to the task. The questions on the new test are confusing written, the answers vague and ambiguous. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s some expert coverage:
Hopefully schools in the US will stop accepting international students until they can assure that the testing is being accomplished in a honest way with good oversight and until it is no longer possible for students to purchase credentials. There is no reason any slots in the US educational system ought to go to students from countries that codify cheating methods for students.
Until the US can be sure that the credentials are honest, those living in dishonest countries should pursue educations in those countries.
As an American living overseas, w kids who have taken American standardised tests at int’l venues, I can tell you first hand what a hardship this would create for A LOT of honest people.
Well they need to find a way to ensure that the tests and credentials aren’t faked and cheated. Perhaps there needs to be a way to test Americans living overseas separately with American proctors. That would be expensive but not overwhelmingly so. And then the international students who’d like to come to the US can find ways to encourage their officials to stop the cheating and find a way to prove that they have done so. Honestly, I’m not that concerned about continuation of the American system educating International students. But I am concerned about the harm done to the US system by the International cheats and by those who are so hyper competitive they only care about the grades and getting the highly valued diploma (regardless of how the grades/diploma are obtained). After all, if the officials can make up credentials, forge letters and find ways to game the tests, they can simply print up diplomas and save seats for US residents in US schools.
This applies only to those countries and students where cheating has been codified by the officials. We know which countries those are.
I don’t think that is true. For example, we see full price internationals accepted regularly at Purdie with fairly low stats. Sure, some top schools with big endowments don’t play that game – they really do want the diversity. But that is a small slice of the US college pie. Lots of schools outside then top echelon rely on a fair number of full pay foreign students.
While there is some cheating at US testing sites, it simply isn’t seen on the massive, widespread scale which has been documented at some sites abroad, particularly in Asia. This is partially a consequence of the enormous number of students at each testing site, which makes proctoring difficult, and partially the high pressure to get into a US school “at any cost,” whoch has led to unfortunate acceptance of dishonest tactics.
HOWEVER: this has not actually hurt American college students nearly as mich as is commonly feared. Because the simple fact is that many of those admitted under false pretenses simply can’t do the work once admitted. The post-2-year retention rate for international students from these countries is abysmal. The result is that US universities get to suck up 2 years worth of foreign tuition money, then send the kid home. That money is all that has kept som universities solvent during this economic downturn.
^You really believe cheating is not happening in the US? It’s just not publicized. Cheating occurs everywhere.
Nope, not in the same way. In certain countries the officials are involved in the cheating. There are actual businesses that generate fake transcripts, fake letters of recommendation on top of cheating with the tests. And the government and the officials are corrupt to the core.
In the US that would simply not be possible. In some countries the system is corrupt. The officials are involved in the corruption. Wealthy parents are buying the credentials and transcripts from businesses that are well known to the country officials. In the US there are isolated juvenile cheaters who, when caught, are consequated. When a group of kids in Long Island paid a few people to take tests for them, it became big news and the adults intervened and put a stop to it and the College Board changed how the tests are administered in the US. Yes there are cheaters everywhere but the officials and adults are not orchestrating the cheating. In the US when adults get wind of cheating they investigate and try to stop it. In some countries it is the officials and adults doing the cheating for the kids. That is different.
ProfessorD, the cheating goes way beyond that related to having too many students at the same testing center-it is codified cheating and consistent with corrupt governments. And there have been consequences at schools beyond sending students back-something that should be done regularly.
There are so many gaping holes in test security. Why does CB distribute the entire test at the beginning instead of one section at a time? Why are answer sheets not collected at the end of every section? Why are there no proctors in the bathrooms? Why do proctors sit at the front of the room, maybe texting, instead of walking around the room during the test? These are the ABC’s of preventing cheating. A teacher who really wanted to prevent cheating would never administer even a run-of-the-mill school test in such a lax way. Who knows how much “unorchestrated” cheating takes place? The orchestrated cheating may produce larger score gains, but it is also easier to spot, so I am not sure which form is worse.
And all of those vulnerabilities pale in comparison to the biggie: test recycling.
The CB and the ACT know that all unreleased tests are in circulation. It’s been very, very well established. And yet both organizations insist on reusing tests that a certain (very wealthy) portion of their test subjects have access to.