Does H.S. send test scores automatically-even if you do not designate?

<p>OK-just a "wondering" question. If S takes the SAT's and the ACT's and he only wants his college choices to see one of them will his HS have all of the scores on the paperwork they send (transcripts and such) or not? We know that we do not need to list any colleges at all on the SAT or the ACT application until he sees his scores and decides which to use. I thought I read here from a parent whose D was having trouble with some messed up paperwork that the H.S. had automatically send the scores with her paperwork (so the college had both SAT and ACT). Hope this makes sense!</p>

<p>Our daughter's school listed the SAT and ACT scores on her transcript. I think many do. Of course you can opt to not have the scores sent to the HS.</p>

<p>D's h.s. requests that they receive scores, so they appear on the transcript. If you want scores taken off a transcript for a particular college application package, they will gladly do so.</p>

<p>Some schools include all testing results on transcripts as it is district policy to do so; others will allow students to include which tests they want on their transcripts. Depends on the school and/or district. Your child's counselor should know the policy. </p>

<p>FYI - be sure that when your child applies to colleges that he/she sends official scores - many schools will not consider scores on an transcript as "official" - I know my institution does not.</p>

<p>thanks-just not sure that if the one is a great score and the other not that it would make sense for the college to see both. I do know that they need to be sent officially.
It sounds like HS's have both on their transcript and that the only way to not have them sent would be to either not list your HS (is that even possible?) initially or to ask the school to not send either the SAT or the AP. He hasn't take either yet to this is mostly mom wondering...</p>

<p>One additional note to post #4 from Adofficer ...some schools include NO testing results on the transcript as district policy. </p>

<p>Check with the guidance dept at your hs. And, a few months after your child takes any of the tests, ask for a copy of their official transcript to confirm. (Since some of us have not always received the correct answer to this type of question from our guidance departments!)</p>

<p>thanks all. I will check with the guidance dept in the early fall. Actually, my concern that I will not get a straight answer is why I posted. I have already gotten a "you are worrying too much" when I asked a simple question about his sciences being out of sequence (S transfereed into school his Junior year) and if this would matter for his SAT's and such. So I have a flavor as to how well the GC and I are going to get along.</p>

<p>Our school district lets the kids decide if test scores appear on the transcript. However, to avoid errors and all the extra work involved, the choice is all or nothing: all scores or no scores. Students cannot pick and choose.</p>

<p>To avoid conflict with the guidance counselor, just ask as a factual matter, without flavor of "he wants" or "he doesn't want" or "he's worried" or anything. Just ask, "Do the scores appear on the transcript? Can he remove them or add them? Is is all or nothing?" Then there's no second guessing - you just want to know.</p>

<p>As I understand it, it's possible to register for the SAT without designating the student's high school. You just leave the 6-digit high school field blank. In this case, the high school won't receive the scores at all, so they can't be recorded on the transcript. I know a woman who has done this with 2 daughters. Their ACT scores were significantly better than their SATs, and the mom didn't think she could trust the high school to remove the SAT scores simply upon her request.</p>

<p>Our hs does record all scores on the transcript - as a "courtesy," I've been told, because "some schools will take this instead of an official score report." (Ummm - they will? I don't think the College Board would be very happy with that). Our usually very accommodating GC went back and forth with me on this a couple of times before agreeing, in writing, to remove any scores we weren't happy with from the transcript before mailing it out. However, this isn't school policy, and she wouldn't have been pleased to do so. Fortunately, she didn't have to. </p>

<p>What I can't understand is why any hs would take it upon itself to record the scores in the first place. I think there are important confidentiality issues here, as well as the very real possibility that a student's chances for acceptance could be jeopardized if poor SAT scores were submitted along with good ACT results.</p>

<p>
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not sure that if the one is a great score and the other not that it would make sense for the college to see both

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</p>

<p>Colleges consider your highest scores, period.</p>

<p>I guess I need to look this up -but maybe one of you knows- if we remove the HS from the 'send to" but want it sent at a later date (after we decide which we want to use-SAT's or ACT's) then we could just have them sent to the H.S at that time? I really am not trying to borrow trouble or even "worried" but the post that pointed out that the HS had sent all the scores as a matter of policy got me thinking. If you D/S did signigicantly better on one kind then why point out how poorly they did on the other by having it with the transcript?</p>

<p>I don't think you can send the score later to the high school. But since most schools (at least the selective ones, at which scores can make or break you) require official score reports from College Board or ACT, then I'm not sure it matters. Since you'll have to send them anyway, they don't need to be on the transcript.</p>

<p>"Colleges consider your highest scores, period."</p>

<p>Well, sort of. With the ACT, students have the option of sending in whichever scores they want, and most students send us their highest testing. A lot of schools don't "super score" the ACT and some students may send in multiple sittings to show off a 36 science reasoning in an otherwise mediocre composite, but I've actually never seen more than 3 ACT score reports in a file (and I rarely see 3). </p>

<p>However, things are a little different with the SAT, as your whole testing history is sent to us - students have not had the option of picking and choosing what scores they want sent (although that may change...). We don't not see the lower scores. I've seen some monster SAT super scores that were a result of 4, 5, sometimes 6 sittings - this has less of an impact than monster scores that are a result of 1 or 2 sittings. The SAT reports show all scores from all testings...don't think we just cover up or ignore that low math score you wish you could hide...</p>

<p>I think the colleges highest in the food chain are the most definite about considering your highest scores, period. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0708_GuideApplying.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0708_GuideApplying.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>When you register for the SAT if you do not give the name and code of your high school scores will not be sent there. You can definitely send your scores there at a later date. I know this for a fact because when my son registered for the SAT I called the collegeboard office and asked them these questions. My son registered for the SAT and never had his scores sent to his high school. It gave us control over where his scores were sent, and since colleges want official scores sent from the collegeboard it made sense. Once you register for an SAT and give the student's high school information, I don't know if you can remove it for subsequent SAT sitting scores. You may be able to edit a student's profile and remove it but I'm not sure.</p>

<p>Our high school recently changed their policy regarding SAT and ACT scores and now does not include them as part of a student's transcript, although they used to. They consider it the student's information and feel it should be under the control of the student.</p>

<p>"I think the colleges highest in the food chain are the most definite about considering your highest scores, period."</p>

<p>Depends on how they read files...most top schools make this claim. But you can't ignore the other scores. They are there, on the score report, and they enter readers' minds. Unless a school does not include the score report in the file (which I would not be surprised by), the reader will see them.</p>

<p>AdOfficer, thanks for the honesty. I've been saying something similar for years about admissions and most certainly about the heavy duty merit scholarships. If under their system a decision maker sees the bad score , that decision maker will use it whether they think (or admit) they are using it or not. You may indeed get the skunk out of the jury box but his perfume will linger no matter what you do. Period. ;)</p>

<p>AdOfficer --I worked in a grad school admissions office where the application readers never saw the actual College Board score report. Admins in the office entered all of the info. on a stat summary sheet...using the highest scores submitted.</p>

<p>With the huge number of applications that admissions officers are reading these days, I would think many schools do the same thing.</p>

<p>thanks soccermom2 and all who posted. I will email his GC using some of the generic ideas here.</p>

<p>AH-easiest-I e-mailed the school secretary (small school) and asked a generic question. And yes, they go out with the transcript.</p>