<p>I can't seem to find the info on their website. Does anyone know if USC uses score choice?</p>
<p>SAT and ACT
USC requires either SAT or ACT scores (with the optional Writing test) from:</p>
<p>All first-year applicants.
Transfer applicants who have accumulated fewer than 30 transferable semester units since graduating high school.
For students who take the SAT more than once, USC records the highest scores for each section – Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing – even if achieved in different sittings. For students taking the ACT, USC will record the highest composite score. </p>
<p>[Freshman</a> Standards - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/fresh_standards.html]Freshman”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/fresh_standards.html)</p>
<p>Freshman profile last year</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/private/1011/FreshmanProfile2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you. I actually saw that page but I wasn’t 100 percent sure. So if the college does not explicitly say that they want ALL scores, it means that score choice is fine, correct?</p>
<p>This is only telling you what they with your scores. So I am reading it as you send all your scores and this is how they pick them. </p>
<p>This is the policy listed by collegeboard.</p>
<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf[/url]”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf</a></p>
<p>Even if colleges tell you they want ALL your scores you do not have to send them all of your scores. They cannot punish you or give you a lesser chance of admission because by law they cannot know if you have taken the SAT/ACT more than the time that you have chosen to send/show them. It is in collegeboard/ACTs privacy statement. So to clarify, no college can require you to send all your scores. They may say it is mandatory, but in the end it is solely at your discretion because they will never know what your other scores are or that even if you took it again or not. When you are sending your scores though collegeboard will do its standard “You are choosing to use score choice even though this college has requested you to not” pop up statement. If you do follow through with the score choice there is 0 repercussions and the college itself will not know about it. If you do not believe me you can comb through collegeboard’s huge privacy statement to feel reassured. </p>
<p>A personal anecdote, I know the UCs vehemently said they REQUIRE that applicants send in all scores and do not use score choice. I got into every UC and I used score choice for every score report I have sent to any college no matter what their policy was. </p>
<p>Hope this is helpful to you. A lot of people don’t actually know this and might even claim it is false. It’s not. Colleges ask for all scores in the hopes that applicants do not know their privacy laws and that they can gain as much information on the applicants as possible. Good luck on admissions.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a law against it. If you don’t want to disclose is it, it is upto you but if they find that you broke their rules, they can revoke your admission for being dishonest.</p>
<p>That is why collegeboard is clearly showing in that document what the individual schools require so that you follow each school rules. Breaking the rule at that point is at your own risk.</p>
<p>How does one make use of score choice without disclosing the scores of those sittings you want to make use of anyway?</p>
<p>
I think you misunderstood my response. There is no law against them punishing you. However, there is a law against collegeboard disclosing scores to colleges that you did not give them permission to. That is a legal violation of their privacy statement. So what I was saying was that colleges will never know that you did not send them other scores. It is against collegeboard’s rules to show them that information hence the college will never be able to punish you or find out. Unless you explicitly go to the admission office of the college you are going to attend, dance around and brag about how you broke their rules, there will be no repercussions. Even if you did this, the office would seriously have to be extremely bored and have nothing better to do than to actually investigate and prove this just to kick one student out. You would probably have to beg for them to actually pursue a punishment against you. </p>
<p>
Yes, it is at your own risk. However, the risk is 0. Colleges will never see what you don’t show them so they will never know. </p>
<p>See:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Source:
[Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/policy]Score”>Send SAT Scores to Colleges - SAT Suite | College Board)</p>
<p>Please do your research next time.</p>
<p>Your answer is cheat based on privacy?</p>
<p>No my answer is to know your rights and make an informed decision. Many people don’t know some important info such as the above which can be crucial to making a correct choice. I was simply putting some important information out there. In the end it is each applicant’s choice to do what they wish.</p>
<p>So score choice implies you are allowed to pick the scores you want to present.</p>
<p>You have taken 5 tests.</p>
<p>You want to pick three sectional scores from three separate tests as the best.</p>
<p>When you present them and they display three different dates to schools, what are you going to tell them - you did not attempt other sections on those dates?</p>
<p>What about the ACT? Do they super score?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>For students who take the SAT more than once, USC records the highest scores for each section – Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing – even if achieved in different sittings. </p>
<p>For students taking the ACT, USC will record the highest composite score.</p>
<p>I did read somewhere on this forum that people had their admission revoked after their college SOMEHOW found out that they had broken its score choice rule. I would love if I could use score choice for all the colleges I am applying to but I don’t want to risk getting revoked (I know you said there’s a 0 percent chance but I have read posts on CC stating otherwise…)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be rude or insulting, but please at least research what score choice is before you accuse me of persuading people to “cheat based on privacy.” </p>
<p>Score choice doesn’t allow you to do that. For example, if you take the SAT in 3 different sittings, score choice allows you to pick and choose which sittings you want to send them. It can be 1 or all 3. You can’t break up sittings. Some colleges (such as the UC schools) tell you to send ALL SITTINGS of every test you took. So if you got an 1900 on the SAT in March but got a 2200 in May, they still want you to send in the March sitting no matter what. However, score choice allows you to only send in that May sitting without them knowing you ever scored a 1900 or that you even attempted the SAT in March. </p>
<p>What I was saying is, if you don’t send in the 1900 they will never be able to find out and collegeboard can’t tell them legally (it’s in their privacy statement). I just wanted people, especially the thread starter to know that it is in his/her right to do this and if people brand it as cheating, so be it - they can deal with their potential thin envelope and watch you break open that big package…their problem.</p>
<p>g0ld3n, thanks so much for all the useful info. I am debating whether I should go ahead and break the score choice policy for colleges (my parents might object though) since I took the SAT four times. </p>
<p>I have heard that some people who violated their college’s score choice policy had their admission revoked. But the only way this could happen is if their high school transcripts also listed their test scores, correct? So if I want to break this policy, I should make sure that my test scores are not reflected on my transcript?</p>
<p>Man, I never knew this could be so confusing.</p>
<p>^First of all I have never actually seen or heard (with proof) anyone getting in any trouble for violating score choice procedures, let alone revoked admission. Ever. The incredible amount of legal fiasco to actually prove such an allegation is ridiculous if you take a second to actually imagine it. First, they have to prove to you that you violated their policy or else face potential civil law suites from angry parents/applicants so they need a litigation team to somehow get this information from collegeboard which they legally cannot obtain. The fiasco for just 1 isolated case would make no logical sense whatsoever. These “score choice policies” that colleges say they have are unenforceable rules. </p>
<p>But you are correct, if you are going to exercise your right to not send all of your scores in you at least should first make sure your school does not have them listed in the school report to your colleges. If you do indeed want to go this route (I am not endorsing anything and obviously take no blame; however, I can tell you I did this myself so I personally have had success and I know friends who took my advice that were later thankful) make sure you do not slip up and cover your tracks by double checking that your school has agreed not to send in your SAT/ACT scores you do not want and also that you did not already agree to send it to the college when you registered for the actual exam. </p>
<p>Good luck on admission.</p>
<p>First of all “Score Choice” in not an inalienable right. It isn’t mentioned anywhere in the Constitution and to my knowledge no one has stormed foreign beaches in order to preserve your “right” to choose how you present your SAT scores.</p>
<p>Whether you like it or not you are entering into an implicit contract when you apply to a college. The college sets the rules and requirements necessary for you to be considered for admission. You in turn agree to play by those rules in order to be considered for admission to a given school. If you don’t like the rules and requirements a given school lays down you are of course free not to apply to that school. In that there are many schools that accept and encourage Score Choice it would be difficult to prove that you have been irrevocably harmed but a policy banning it. You effectively waive what few “rights” you have the moment you sign the application. In truth, signing the application affirms that you have “played by the stated rules”. A school finding that you have violated any of those rules and misrepresented your compliance would be within its rights to dismiss you.</p>
<p>Of course it is highly unlikely that any school will find out that you used Score Choice and only you the applicant can decide if ignoring a stated requirement of the process rises to a moral and ethical dilemma (those simply asking the question certainly implies an answer). As for bringing a civil case, a simple phone call to 1-800-IMA-SHYSTER and you can be frivolously nagging anyone and anything you like. Of course a strategy based on schools not wanting to be embarrassed in court could backfire as a school just might decide to expel you and fight you in court for a few years while you develop a reputation for an inability to follow even simple and obvious requirements. Only you can decide if that’s worth the risk, all for the sake of hiding a 580 on the verbal SAT.</p>
<p>"I don’t mean to be rude or insulting, but please at least research what score choice is before you accuse me of persuading people to “cheat based on privacy.” </p>
<p>So your advice is only useful if they want to use a single sitting with the best score. Otherwise they have to send 3 different sets of sittings and can hide 2. </p>
<p>So score 1 - ignore
Score -2 math 600 R 720 W 680</p>
<p>Score 3 m 640 R 700 W 700</p>
<p>score 4 m 670 R 640 W 720</p>
<p>score 5 m 720 R 680 W 660</p>
<p>I guess it is 5, 2, and 4.
USC is already saying that about ACT.</p>
<p>Vinceh, you’re a little late to the party…if you read my other posts I already said and readily admit colleges can still do what they want if they find out. However, they won’t find out. They’d never dismiss a student on the grounds that he didn’t send in that extra ACT/SAT sitting if they tell them that they simply forgot to do it. And yes, I do think hiding that 580 is actually decently important - at least in my experience. Many of my friends who sent in everything yet had very similar stats (and ECs and essays) as me and my friends who decided to use our “unalienable right,” not only didn’t get into UCLA or Cal, they didn’t even get into UCSD. A lot of them had a couple 70-200 weaker SAT sittings than their best that they thought they had to have sent. You can completely blame it on circumstance and say “admission is unpredictable” and I would agree; however, there seems (at least in my experience) to be a direct correlation between colleges seeing low scores even if they claim they only take your highest into account and rejection. If they really did only take your highest scores into account why on earth would they REQUIRE you to send in all your scores? That in itself is a hypocritical paradox and if people believe them without so much as to question their statement then they are sheep willing to believe anything fed to them. It’s completely obvious that they do count for something at least and it’s definitely not to gauge improvement potential because in my experience “improvement” led to rejection. Again, I’m not trying to say this is some kind of ridiculous conspiracy nor am I telling people to explicitly break rules. I just want to make useful information available to people that asked. They don’t have to use it or even believe it. If you think what I am saying is ludicrous then you are entitled to your own opinion. Think whatever you like and have a nice day.</p>
<p>g0ld3n, all the info you presented in this thread is super helpful. I will definitely use score choice now, regardless of what the college wants.</p>
<p>Have you made any threads about score choice? I feel that this information could help a lot more people if only they knew what you knew.</p>