<p>Lavalamp, this article just confirms that the score choice option does not appear on the score report that is sent. I´d still like to know if a school decides to check up on an applicants honesty, whether the CB would refuse to answer when asked if there are more sittings.</p>
<p>You can bet that colleges that call the CB don´t have to wait 45 minutes on hold.</p>
<p>But would colleges check that EVERY student did not use score report. To me it seems unrealistic for them to check everyone</p>
<p>Maybe they wouldn´t check everyone, but just some that might raise some suspicion. For example, if a kid just sends in scores from an October sitting, but attends a high school where almost all college-bound kids do the test in May/June (most), that may make them wonder. Or maybe there is something else that just makes them want to confirm all the info. They could present a list of names to the CB and just ask is this information accurate, yes or no? It´s up to an individual if he wants to take that chance.</p>
<p>smoda really?</p>
<p>so i can send 2 SAT’s and 3 SATII’s to 14 colleges and it will cost the same as one?</p>
<p>Is it true that if one uses Score-Choice to pick out top scores and send to non-Score Choice accepting schools, they would never know? I mean, these schools say that they want all SAT scores…but they are not clear on SAT II’s. If I selected the top 3 or so scores from Subject Tests…they would think those were the only test I took would they ?</p>
<p>lemonio – you pay one fee for each school you send the scores to, regardless of how many scores you send to each school.</p>
<p>In the latest “The Choice” blog (10/13), Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, responds to questions. One of these asks, “Could you please explain Score Choice? I have understood that a student can restrict scores sent to colleges, even when the colleges ask for all scores to be sent and do not participate in Score Choice. Is that possible?”</p>
<p>In his reply, Caperton says:</p>
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<p>Caperton also points out that Score Choice is not automatic …</p>
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<p>Also in “The Choice,” today, Caperton answers a question about computer accommodations for the essay portion of the SAT and notes his own dyslexia. </p>
<p>To read the entire blog, see: [Guidance</a> Office: Answers from the President of the College Board, Part 2 - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/boardq-and-a-part-2/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers from the President of the College Board, Part 2 - The New York Times)</p>
<p>So would leaving the SAT/ACT score part of the Common App blank be seen as a bad thing? Or would it not affect decisions at all?</p>
<p>You guys may be worrying too much about all of this. One of my friends got a CR 370 and a M800. He got off track with the bubble sheet. He took the SAT again and did a lot better. He reported all of his scores and got into Harvard.</p>
<p>Also, you do not have to use the Common Application if you are not comfortable with it.</p>
<p>Let’s all relax.</p>
<p>My daughter who will be applying to colleges in in two years is saying that she will not be applying EA to Yale or to Stanford because of their postiions on score choice, unless her first one or two test sittings are spectacular. She will instead use her EA or ED option at a school that respects score choice.</p>
<p>I really think Yale and Stanford may hurt themselves in the long run with this. Both of these schools had their yields increase when Harvard and Princeton abandoned EA. I think now they will see their numbers of EA applicants decrease.</p>
<p>And serves them right, imo.</p>
<p>I totally disagree with you sewhappy. I think it´s perfectly reasonable, and even admirable, that some schools have decided to reject Score Choice because they want to see the context of a applicant´s test results. Scoring 2300 on one try is not the same as scoring 2300 after multiple sittings, which probably correlates to heavy test preparation. Many kids cannot afford to take the test so many times, or are not inclined to because they´d rather be learning or doing something more useful with their time. I think top colleges would prefer kids that are not obsessed with the admissions process and that are naturally capable, and they are better able to see that with a full testing history. </p>
<p>To me, it will only benefit the final pool of admitted students at those schools, for adcoms have been able to weed out the kids that look more desperate to score high.</p>
<p>I agree with wildwood, and I don’t think Yale or Stanford will be hurt in the long run. I’ve complained on this thread about the bait and switch that was pulled on current seniors, though. As far as I know, they are the only class who relied on the availability of score choice (by taking SATs as a diagnostic tool, or just for practice, knowing they could hide those scores), then had Yale and other colleges suddenly announce they wouldn’t follow score choice. They are the only ones actually affected by this. This year’s juniors now have a sense of how score choice will really work, and can test accordingly.</p>
<p>Yes, fauxnom, I agree that it was unfair the way the CB went about promoting Score Choice and the repercussions that has had on this year´s class. What´s incomprehensible is that the CB did not consult with colleges before making this major policy change. It not only would have allowed feedback as to whether it was really a good idea and desirable for their college clients, it would have also given colleges a chance to think about it and establish their policy before the announcement.</p>
<p>As suggested by others, it seems that this was a rash and blatantly commercially-motivated decision by the CB to better compete with the ACT.</p>
<p>I don’t have a senior, so no dog in this hunt. But, note, wildwood, CB is a nonprofit whose membership/ownership is the colleges themselves. So, by definition, they DID in fact consult with colleges, likely just those on their board who approved the major change. Perhaps they did not speak with Yale or Stanford(or Cornell) directly, but they did receive approval from their membership, which is comprised of 5000+ colleges. </p>
<p>While the decision was definitely a money-maker (aka, “commercial”) it was definitely not “rash”. Since less than a handful of colleges are not accepting score choice, the other 5,000 are!</p>
<p>Fauxnom: sry, you received bad advice, but no GC should ever tell a kid to take a college test just for “practice.” For <$10 that should be done at home.</p>
<p>fwiw: few kids test more than three times, so it doesn’t matter to 99% of the applicant pool. However, a certain segment of the world is test-happy and it is those kids that Y & S want to follow-up on to ensure that the 2300 superscore is not taken over ten sittings. Incidentally, when CB offered score choice on subject tests a decade ago, cheating was easy and rampant, which is probably another reason why Y&S want to see all scores.</p>
<p>Thanks bluebayou, I didn´t know how the CB was set up. It still seems clear that they did not warn all the colleges ahead of time, to give them a chance to determine their own policy before the announcement was made.</p>
<p>And although it is a definite minority, it is not just a “handful” that reject Score Choice, if you scroll through the list you´ll see quite a few, too many to count.</p>
<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-use-practices-list.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board;
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<p>Doubtful. The CB knows to whom they are catering – the colleges. It is just the students (rather the parents) who pay. I commend sewhappy’s daughter on her stance and principled actions. As long as the students are the ones who have to pay for the tests and the sending of score reports, they should be the ones to call the shots on what scores are released. I don’t really understand this willingness to abrogate one’s choices on a product that one is paying for. The colleges can choose which data they release, allow the student who is already doing a lot of jumping through hoops during the application process some flexibility.</p>
<p>broechten, kids can choose freely what colleges they apply to just as colleges can choose what criteria they use to make their decisions. As someone else pointed out on another thread, kids do not have to release their transcript to a school, unless, of course, they want to have a chance to get in there. Sewhappy´s daughter doesn´t like the policies at these schools, so she is within her rights not to apply…btw, she must also rule out Columbia, Georgetown, Pomona, Rice, Tufts, Carnegie Mellon and all the UCs to name a few.</p>
<p>Wild,</p>
<p>You’d have a point if there was any real evidence that prep courses impact scores to any significant degree. To my knowledge the evidence has indicated the opposite.</p>
<p>My daughter will probably apply to S and Y. She just won’t utilize SCEA at either of those schools because they aren’t allowing her to present her strongest possible application.</p>
<p>I have been through this process already with older child. He was accepted SCEA at Yale and regular decision at Stanford. He is doing very well right now at Harvard. Like her brother, daughter is a power scorer, judging by her ninth grade PSAT. But she could have off days and on days and will most likely apply early action to a school that allows score choice. </p>
<p>Finally, I find the notion that score choice will fuel the mania for test prep absurd. If anything it will reduce the anxiety surrounding testing.</p>
<p>Yes, sewhappy, i understand that test scores matter enormously, but I also understand a college´s desire to put them in perspective, to have a clearer picture of the applicant. It is fine for someone to have the drive to study and retake the SAT several times to maximize their score, but, IMO, it would show an adcom a different quality than what they´d see in the person who takes the test once and says, “okay, I´m done”. It is up to adcoms to decide what reflects better on the person, and who they are looking for. If you feel there is nothing wrong with repeating the test, (and there surely there isn´t up to a certain point) then there should be no reason to want to hide that fact. </p>
<p>The difference with athletes, intel winners or violinists, is they are trying to achieve something in a life-long skill which is considered by most as useful and valuable. SAT test-taking is a short-term endeavor, important for nothing except college admissions.</p>
<p>And if extra prepping does not affect the scores, and I´m pretty sure it does although not necessarily through the paid courses, then people are just playing the probabilities game by retesting, and that should be taken into account.</p>
<p>More than a handful…</p>
<p>Many of the schools asking students to submit all scores are smaller regional schools so some of the bigger names can be lost if you just quickly glance at the CB list. Besides Yale and Standford, the bigger name schools include: Barnard, BYU, CMU, Colgate, Cornell, George Washington U, Georgetown, Harvey Mudd, Macalester, McGill, Mills, Pomona, Rice, Scripps, Syracuse, Texas A&M, all of the UofCalifornia campuses, Penn, and UofWashington. (Also Washington State…which won’t matter to most of you 
)</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if some schools change their score choice policy, one direction or the other, for next year’s admission cycle after they experience this first year.</p>