He has taken the ACT and scored a 24. For school of business college admissions said 25 ACT or 1800+ on SAT to ensure getting in. I know, one more point on ACT and he good. Honestly, it just boils down to them no actually stating “he cheated” but essentially saying “he cheated” and it is not right. Their process for defending yourself is really one sided and puts the burden of proving innocence on the student. We will argue his position purely to defend his integrity. Nothing more. We have learned that common sense does not apply when it comes to ETS! They make their decisions on assumptions. They are not saying he did not take the test, they are not saying he did not write his essay, or he used unauthorized phone/calculator.
I understand your frustration, and what is happening to you is really not fair. I would think the fact that his essay score increased approximately the same amout as other score should be strong evidence of not cheating. When my daughter had a SAT tutor he told us it is easier to raise lower scores significantly. I was told that really high scores are harder to raise. He is so close to the scores he needs, I hope he is able to hang in there. Good Luck
Feb 12, next thursday. We have a few concerns:
1.) Because they are not validating November score due to significant increase, answers (multiple choice) are similar to someone sitting in his vicinity, and difference from variable to one other test section will they not validate January score if it comes in same or higher. Side note: He wants 1800 so he can get business school so if he comes in below 1800 then we will cross that bridge then.
2.) If they question January score how long will that take? Another 3 months with no communication from them other than an email 9 days after scores were supposed to be posted. Thats all we have received from them this entire time. All other information, some of which has been incorrect, has come from our reaching out to them and requesting. Initial conversation was that he increased 700 points now we are being told it was 600.
As stated before, he will be taking the ACT in hopes of scoring 25 or higher. We are thinking that we will send in copies of all his practice notes as well as copy of ACT score.
I hope he gets the ACT 25 and you can just walk away from CB.
It sounds like they are giving you the opportunity to explain the increase in scores. You can’t explain why another student had a similar score (although I’d say he did not cheat, did not know any of the other students in his testing room and therefore wouldn’t know if one was a particularly good student and expected to get a good score - why cheat off another poor test taker?), but I would ‘explain’ the big leap by stating:
- he was unprepared for the first testing, didn't understand the format, wasn't feeling well, etc
- the second test he prepared for (send in the receipts from the tutor!)
- second test was more in line with his classroom work
- second test in more in line with a 24 on ACT (send copy)
It doesn’t sound like they have invalidated the Nov score, but haven’t validated it. It’s in limbo. If the Jan test is more in line, but even a little lower, that should show that when he is well prepared and not nervous, he does better. You might ask for a letter from the school/GC explaining the big leap, the tutoring, the regular classroom grades.
I don’t think you have any choice but to continue taking tests, ACT or SAT, while this is sorted out, but I think the truth will come out. Good luck.
Agree with twoin: ACT score of 24 should really help.
As long as the January score is more in line with the November score, seems like it should help. If it is more like the very first score, that could be a problem.
Good luck! So frustrating, but remind him it will all work out in the end.
Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I met with his tutor this evening and she has every note, practice test, homework assignment, everything she ever had him do. We plan to send copies (shipping cost wii not be cheap) of all these items as well as his official ACT score report. They probably will put no value to the ACT as they are a direct competitor to College Board but we will send anyhow. So on the liter sider there is some irony in this whole situation:
1.) Essay subject was “CHEATING”
2.) I was not aware of this but the tutor actually used the College Board SAT Prep materials.
My son actually used their published and sold for profit practice system and increased his score significantly. During dinner tonight he actually stated that instead of questioning his score they should use him in advertising how well their prep materials are.
He is an 3.0 average student who basically worked very hard and sacrificed a lot of free time and earned a slightly above average score on the test and we are going through this.
twoinanddone: you are correct that they have not officially invalidated his scores as we now have this secondary review to complete. We have many questions to be answered by them before we submit our response to the initial review. The two week window they provide is ample time just very annoying that they take 3 months to complete initial review and now put a 2 week timeline for recourse on us.
In the meantime he will take the ACT again and we hope he can improve 1 point so he qualifies for his planned major and we will wait until this thursday to see what he scored on January SAT. This is really all about his integrity and he said he wanted to dispute their preliminary review.
Thanks again for all the support it really does mean a lot to me.
So, so sorry you are going through all this. It is a parental nightmare! I really feel for you and your son.
“During dinner tonight he actually stated that instead of questioning his score they should use him in advertising how well their prep materials are.”
I like that idea!
What is Plan B?
Plan B? I believe we are already working plan B. He will take ACT again and see if he can increase score to 25 which we are confident he will do. 25 on ACT and this is all just one big disappointing headache that will be over and we move on. We will also submit our information supporting his score increase and see where it goes from there just because. My sons ACT score along with his GPA qualify him already for Div 1 athletics. There is a part of me that wishes my son were not a scholarship guy so I could go public with this. I do not want to draw any attention to him or his school. I wish there was an advocacy group that could take up these challenges with college board. We will persevere.
Yes, I like that idea as well. He should be the poster boy for their ad campaign. They really just don’t get it. That information will also be submitted and it will be interesting to see how they respond to that.
I actually think that 24 on the ACT ought to be pretty convincing evidence for the College Board that the second score wasn’t the product of cheating - unless they really want to argue he cheats on every test he takes.
yeah, who knows with these folks. I have my doubts they will put any value to the ACT score as they are direct competitor to CB. We can only see now.
I have been reading your post about the problems you experienced with College Board and felt compelled to share a similar problem that my daughter had. She was trying to increase her SAT scores by retaking the SAT after 8 weeks of twice a week private Kaplan tutoring. She is a good student with a 4.0 GPA. Her SAT score going into the October SAT was 1990. Unfortunately on the day of the test, there was a fire at the high school where she was testing. The school was evacuated and the students told that they would have to make the test up two weeks from that date. She actually even completed another couple of private tutoring sessions during that time frame. Test day came and went. She felt good about her performance. We waited and waited for scores. She called College Board and got the run around. I called explaining that November admissions dates have passed and this delay could be negatively impacting her. The very next day she received email notification of her score. The total was exactly the same as her previous scores (1990) from the previous May! She went up in one area and down in another but the total was exactly the same. We were completely shocked that all the test prep made no difference at all. She paid to have the test hand-scored in case there was a bubbling mistake or some other obvious mistake but was told by college board that the test score is valid. What are they going to say, “Oh! so sorry! yes of course we made a mistake. Let us fix that for you!” I am frustrated that College Board has no obligation to provide further proof that the score is valid. Because this was a make-up test for a whole testing center, I am even more skeptical of the test scores. I understand for test security there is not much that can be done but on the other hand what proof do we have that there was no mix-up with her test and another students test. They walk out of the testing center with no proof, receipt bearing their actual score sheet serial number or anything! Students are completely at the mercy of College Board. I would be anxious to find out if anyone ever challenged the validity of the scores and won? How often does College Board collect the additional $50 fee without any proof that they reviewed the test or even made sure they were looking at the correct student or even correct testing session. But on the other hand what recourse does a test taker have?
^Why do you assume her scores would necessarily go up? I have heard of plenty of cases where scores even drop after students have done expensive test prep with private tutors. It is disappointing, but there is some reasonable chance that can happen. It is a gamble, after all, that the scores will improve.
@pissedoffdad Is there an update?
@pissedoffdad just curious how it all worked out.
Everyone hates CB dude
Update: Son scored a 26 on ACT so we were able to use that score for admissions. As for the SAT, oh my what a nightmare. Scored an 1860 on Jan SAT and score was validated. As a matter of principal we still submitted information to board of review for validating nov score after we had received jan score and board of review still said “NOPE- Invalid”. I called and spoke with CB and asked why they would validate Jan score and still want to invalidate nov score. Again folks, we continued this dispute out of principal. Their answer was “because we have substantial evidence” on this specific test. THEIR POSITION IS ABSOLUTELY ASININE. I have learned now what their substantial evidence was:
-on section 4 my son had 4 incorrect answers in a row as that of another test taker who appeared to have been seated near him.
-on section 7 my son had 3 incorrect answers in a row as that of another test taker who appeared to have been seated near him.
-on section 9 my son had 2 incorrect answers in a row as that of another test taker who appeared to have been seated near him.
Yes, APPEARS to have been seated near him. Why appears? No seating chart submitted by proctor or test supervisor.
Here is the killer: my son scored 160 points higher than other test taker and other test taker scores were validated. What the &$%#?
We submitted practice samples, measurements showing distance between my son and other test taker (photos w/tape measure), letters from teachers regarding my son as a student (not character ref), ACT score, we shot down every argument they could present. Still a resounding NOPE! These folks are militant and will not give in even when they know they are wrong.
Another thing, the PSAT, I would never ever have any other student take it. The actually used the other test takers PSAT score to validate their position. Thats correct folks, a test that does not count was used to validate their position to invalidate an actual test.
We also learned that most employees of ETS are “part time” contract employees. Really! You have people who may not be having their contract with ETS renewed contesting scores? Could there also be a conflict of interest that this person, in order to “look good” for possible contract renewal would scrutinize test? Also, board of review are full time employees and 99.99% of the time agree with findings.
definition of substantial evidence: “we put the test through our computer that the algorithm is specifically written to find something, please find something, anything, please that will allow us to question a score we do not want to validate and we do not care if this could possibly screw up some kids life because we are CB and ets and we just don’t give a crap, and the most important thing is that we protect our reputation and scam all these kids and universities in to believing that they need us, they cannot make it without us”.
GUESS WHAT CB, MY SON MADE IT WITHOUT YOUR SCORE AS HE USED YOUR COMPETITOR (ACT) ON HIS APPLICATION. MY SON WILL MAKE SURE TO TELL EVERYONE HE KNOWS TO AVOID TAKING YOUR TEST AS WILL I.
Sorry to hear of all the struggles your son and your family have gone through with CollegeBoard. I’m glad he was able to use his ACT score.