I need help, the ETS accused me of cheating on the SAT in october. I received a 2220 on the SAT; 800 math 690 cr and 730 writing. They said they reviewed my test because on my PSAT of 2013, i received a 124. But over that entire year and summer i began studying for the SAT. They claim to me that “there was an agreement between your answers on one or more sections of the test and those of another test taker seated near me. They also said that “In the math section, your scratch work doesn’t support your responses.” First off, i didn’t know anyone in the room except 4 seniors seated behind me, who are not nearly as smart as me and i wouldn’t’ve cheated off of anyway. But they are trying to use my scratch work against me, and the proctor told us as always " You may use your test book for scratch work, but you will not receive credit for anything written there.” thats straight from the proctor directions. Im not sure what they’re basing their claim as i did my own work, but shouldn’t they not be able to use my scratch work against me if it doesn’t benefit me anyway? Also, if i could receive some advice as to what to send them to win my appeal that’d be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks
So, did you end up guessing on the answers they feel aren’t supported by the scratch work?
I guessed on a few of the math. But i also have the scores from my SAT class i took the entire summer into october, with tests each sunday, and my score started at 460 and eventually reached up to a 750 the week before the test, do you think that would help as evidence?
I have the receipt to show i paid for these classes as well as the score on a page that the program send you each week
I don’t know the answer to that. I suppose if they were reasonably well proctored and the staff are willing to go to bat, they might be of some help.
my big concern is even if my scratch work didn’t match my response, aren’t they not able to use the scratch work against me?
When you sign the forms you agree to the ETS terms. They have something in the terms about “discrepant handwriting” being grounds for invalidation. My first thought was that this would be related to the essay, but perhaps it could mean (or could also include) your scratch work for math calculations.
Regardless, if they’ve already asserted this as proof, I doubt you can pull some kind of technical legal response along the lines that “the evidence is inadmissible”. You better come up with some other supporting arguments for your score improvement.
i mean i have the receipts for the courses will all the scores laid out by dates, as well as each class time i went. is there anything else i could provide? Also, they are referring to the math scratch work, because i doubt the essay was the problem, the only other time i wrote in my test besides to cross out was in the math sections.
On those particular questions, it sounds like the best thing to do is be honest. Just say the track you were working on wasn’t getting you there but you could eliminate an answer or two and thought you had a good shot at a guess.
yeah thats what my dad was saying as well. Could i use the SAT blue book that the college board themselves create to reference the parts where it says to make an educated guess if you can get the answers choices down to 2, because thats what i always do if I’m stuck
Sure. It’s a fairly common test-taking strategy where the penalty for wrong answers isn’t too weighty.
Is there any like other evidence you think could provide or anything you’ve seen that helped someone win their appeal? Thanks a lot
Also I remember one problem one of the open ended math ones that I wrote something on my scrap different then my answer because I figured it out on my calculator, do you think it’d be a valid reason that I did some of the calculations on my calc which may have led to different answers then my work?
I’m not sure you have to know someone in order to copy off them, so I don’t know how much that helps your case.
Well I wasn’t including that in my argument, but I went in prepared and ready, with the sat prep course I took I have justification of each of the scores I got so is that helpful in anyway?
It does seem like your prep course performance and record of improvement is some of the best evidence you have. I would caution you that test administration can be very sophisticated now and answer patterns correlated with seating charts can be powerful evidence, too.
I understand, but how could that be used against me if I didn’t cheat; I know it’s redundant but I guess I’m confused on how that can be used against me if you could please expand
I suppose you could ask to see the evidence, but I’m sure they aren’t lying about it, and I don’t know what you could say about it if you did see it. Sometimes things just coincide. That’s why your best chances appear to be to explain exactly what you did, including the preparation and how you arrived at your answers.
I agree with @JustOneDad just explain your preparation in full, and they should stop the accusation.
What a bummer. I’m so happy when actual cheaters are caught, but it’s awful when a non-cheater gets tarred with that brush.
I’m sorry, dude, and I hope this works out for you.