<p>My DDs just signed up to take the SAT in January. In the spot where you say where you want your scores sent, they put in their current top 4 choices but then had second thoughts. Should they hold off on reporting their scores until after they see how they do this first time? What did you all advise your students to do.</p>
<p>My d also took the SAT in January of her junior year. She didn't send them until she'd seen them. We figured that if she needed to take any other tests, she'd just have to send the scores again anyway. She waited until she had taken her last SAT II (in October of her senior year) and then sent her 4 freebies.</p>
<p>Thanks Chedva!</p>
<p>We didn't send the first SAT1 scores, because we really didn't have a list, but by June we had four probable schools so the SAT2 scores Mathson took then went out along with the first SAT1 scores.</p>
<p>We did, because we didn't know better. So you are one step ahead in asking now! If you think your daughter will be taking SATIIs, then you might as well wait since you'd have to resend those scores anyway.</p>
<p>So, I just went in and deselected those schools. I am assuming that when they take the SATIIs they will be able to choose different schools as some of the schools they are sending SAT Is to don't want SAT IIs and I don't want to waste a freebie.</p>
<p>historymom - we did just what Chevda did except that after sending what we thought were her final scores from June of her junior year, I talked her into re-taking the Spanish test in December of her senior year. I felt quite sure she could do better and sure enough, with no special preparation at all she went up by 110 points. So we had to send them all over again but it was worth the expense because she felt no pressure taking the test knowing that if she didn't improve we wouldn't send them and no one would ever see them. She was also able to send a letter to all her colleges highlighting her new high score and thus showing a little bit more "demonstrated interest." </p>
<p>The point of all this is that if your child is thinking about taking a risky SAT II, send the scores first and take the test afterwards.</p>
<p>All the SAT scores will end up being sent eventually. There has never been score choice for SAT I, and it was eliminated for SAT II several years ago.</p>
<p>I really am not a total ninny, but I just need to clarify. Is what you're saying: Whatever schools my DDs ultimately choose to send scores to will receive all scores for SAT I and SAT II even if they don't require SAT IIs.</p>
<p>mattmom, if you send your scores to all the college you are applying to and then take another test afterwards and do not designate any schools to send it to, when you sign up or afterwards, the score NOT be sent to any school. The College Board does not automatically update scores to colleges. They want to be paid to send them.</p>
<p>historymom - when you send scores to colleges, the College Board report contains all SAT scores, both SAT I and SAT IIs, that your student has taken prior to your request. So yes, the schools will receive SAT IIs even if they don't require them.</p>
<p>thanks puzzled...I get it now :-)</p>
<p>What some people do is this (and this is just an example; your dates would vary):</p>
<p>January: SAT I
March (if needed): SAT I
Continue with SAT I until you're happy with your scores.
Send scores to Colleges A, B, and C, which do not require SAT IIs.</p>
<p>June: SAT II
October: SAT II (if needed)
Send scores to Colleges D, E and F, which do require SAT IIs.</p>
<p>Colleges D, E and F will get all the SAT I and SAT II scores. However, College Board does not automatically update scores, so unless you specifically requested new scores to be sent, Colleges A, B and C will not see the SAT II scores.</p>
<p>Does this make sense?</p>
<p>Yep! Thanks!!!</p>
<p>there is no reason not to send them, IMO.</p>
<p>I think strategically it makes the most sense to send them to the safeties, especially if you know there are safety schools the kid will definitely apply to (i.e., your in-state public) or rolling admission schools. You might save some money in the long run, not having to send repeat scores. </p>
<p>If a school requires SAT II's and your kid hasn't taken them yet, then the scores are going to have to be resent anyway -- so it makes more sense to wait until are required scores will be available before having them sent. (Keep in mind that the College Board will report all scores each time)</p>
<p>By "strategic" I mean the way to save the most money on score reporting fees. </p>
<p>The reason NOT to send SAT scores early to a reach college is that if the kid does not do as well as expected, the kid might want to opt for ACT instead and in some cases may not want the college to know about the weaker SAT score. I'm not sure it really makes all that much of a difference .... but for peace of mind its better to hold off. Also, the scores received might impact college planning significantly -- so you could find that you've sent off the scores to a bunch of schools that aren't on the list in the end.</p>
<p>My oldest did what Calmom is suggesting. Based on her PSAT she expected to do at least somewhere in that ballpark. She had a couple of safe schools that she knew if she scored even decent they were fine. Based on formulas using GPA and auto admissions she knew she needed only a certain score which she knew she would easily get.
If your D's have a few Cal States (not sure about Cal Poly) they might be good schools to use the first 4 freebies.
My son had no clue how he would do so we held off on sending any scores till we saw them.</p>
<p>Historymom - keep in mind that you get 4 free score reports every time she takes any type of SAT - not just 4 total. So it's not a waste to use them the first time, unless for strategic reasons. My S sent his first and only SAT I scores to a tentative list that included large state U safety types. It turned out they don't need SAT II's, so the first freebies went to good use. Sending SAT II scores to a more refined list took care of most of the schools he's interested in.</p>
<p>I will disagree with sending them to safeties; I would opt instead to send to reaches to start a file, and perhaps, demonstrate some early interest. I truly believe that colleges mean what they say about only using the highest scores in their admissions evaluations, whether ACT or SAT, but 'peace of mind' can be worth lot. :)</p>
<p>you know this is actually something we are mulling over...maybe it is best to just send the SATs after the second test, when hopefully your better test is also on report along with the first one...but in reality, I don't think holding back matters at all as most colleges view all of them rather wholistically and some superscore strictly
However, I love this conversation. It reminds me of the 2005 thread on "to paper clip or to staple" when sending in applications by mail....another hilarious thread that nevertheless we all found to be suddenly relevant!</p>