I did a lot of research, and followed advice here at CC and elsewhere and determined it would be wise for my daughter to take the old SAT this fall, and then hopefully be done with standardized testing (ok, other than AP exams and subject tests).
She’s done very well in practice tests and took her first SAT this past Saturday. All good so far.
Then tonight we went to a college admissions presentation at her high school, presented by an expert on college admissions. He gave an excellent and insightful presentation. However, he made a comment – which he stood by when my daughter questioned him afterwards – that for the class of 2017 it wouldn’t make sense to take the old SAT because even if schools claim they will accept either the old SAT scores or the new SAT scores, they in truth strongly prefer the new SAT (as the “Gold Standard”) and therefore, he recommends that even if you got exceptional old SAT scores it would be highly advisable to take the new SAT as well – to be on the safe side and to eliminate possible questions in the mind of the admissions officers.
Ugh … I convinced my high-achieving daughter to spend a good chunk of her summer before junior year to study for the old SAT and get that behind her. Now she is being advised to take the SAT up to 3 times for her best score – and then do it again starting in March for the new SAT. (And she’s the type that if an expert recommends that it would be wise, then she’s inclined to push herself and do it.)
Help! Any thoughts? Anyone have insight as to whether colleges really will prefer the new SAT?
I’m not buying what he is saying. My son is also a Junior. He took the June SAT & ACT. He also took the Sept ACT and the Oct SAT. He is done unless he finds a school where he needs a higher score for a scholarship. The colleges say that they are fine with the old one. It’s nuts to think that the colleges expect the juniors to wait until March to take the new SAT. They have subject tests to take too. I can see them saying that about the Sophomores but not the Juniors.
I have heard that colleges will happily accept scores from old or new SAT for class of 2017, but they will not superscore across tests. As in, cannot mix scores from old and new SAT. Also heard that they want to see new SAT scores from class of 2018.
I would pick up the phone can call a school or two so that you can set your D’s mind at ease.
Thanks @MichiganGeorgia and @CT1417 – I agree with both of you. It makes logical sense to me, and it’s consistent with everything I’ve heard, except from this one expert.
Just wondering if there was some new info out there or if anyone else has heard that the new SAT will be preferred for class of 2017.
But yes, it might mean making a couple calls. Maybe that’s not a bad thing – it will give my daughter an excuse to reach out to the admissions departments at some of her high interest schools.
While very good phone skill practice (my boys are terrible on the phone but wonderful conversationalists in person), I don’t think the colleges will be tracking interest for the class of 2017 quite yet as they are mired in trying to process apps for the class of 2016. But always good to engage them in the process before it really matters.
I don’t have a 2017 or 2018 student, but since I have a 2016 student I have been reading the test requirements carefully. One school has even stated that they will accept the old SAT for class of 2018.
The most prevalent advice I have read for the class of 2017 is not to be a guinea pig for the new SAT. I think you and your daughter have done exactly the right thing.
Apparently some schools are making the decision to require the new SAT for 2017. From VT:
Note: Those who plan to apply to Virginia Tech for the fall of 2017 and beyond, are required to take either the ACT or the redesigned SAT test, which will be available on March 6, 2016. To learn more about the new, redesigned SAT test, visit https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat
There is certainly some uncertainty.
Some schools have already said they prefer or only accept the new test some time down the road even the old SAT was taken within high school year. My D2 (class of 2018) did use some SAT practice test questions as review but not taking the old test for that reason. Instead, we told her to start practicing on ACT for now until there are more materials for the new SAT/PSAT. I would suggest the same for class of 2017.
“Note: Those who plan to apply to Virginia Tech for the fall of 2017 and beyond, are required to take either the ACT or the redesigned SAT test.”
Does anyone know WHY Virginia Tech will not accept the current SAT for the class of 2017?
This seems to me a strange decision.
SAT scores that together with high school GPA are “highly correlated” with first year college grades, and for this reason have been used for college admissions for over 10 years, are suddenly no good? So does that mean that these scores are NOT correlated with first year college grades???
@Plotinus My only guess would be that they believe they need to have a consistent metric to “judge” applicants equally. (yet, ironically, the ACT is used in addition to the SAT even though the tests are very different.) I’ll spare you my thoughts on the issue.
CB is going to provide concordance tables for the old and new SAT’s. As you note, these can’t be less reliable than are the ACT-SAT concordances. This is really unfair to those members of the class of 2017 who did enough advance planning and prep to take the old SAT.
It really doesn’t matter at this point. Some schools will prefer the new test, I would guess most won’t care. You’ll need to work within the guidelines. Vent if you want but “it is what it is”.
@Plotinus - it looks like VA Tech is not saying they will not accept the old SAT for the class of 2017. It looks like they are saying for applications starting in the fall of 2017 (HS class of 2018 and beyond), they will only accept the new SAT if the SAT is submitted.
@Jennings99 and @Plotinus Applicants for the fall of 2017 are this yr’s jrs. They will be applying in the fall of 2016 for the fall of 2017. Unless, of course, VT used the incorrect preposition on their website and meant applying in the fall of 2017 in which case that would mean the class of 2018.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Thank you for the clarification. The wording is certainly confusing, and I’m with @Plotinus - it doesn’t make sense when pretty much every college I have investigated allows the old SAT for current juniors. I think an email to VA Tech would definitively answer the question.
Thanks everyone. My “vent” is that I’m trying to carefully monitor and adjust this college application process a bit. I want DD to be energized enough to focus and apply college application effort where it matters, but not so much that she gets burnt out on it or diverts herself too much from living and enjoying her classes and extracurriculars. I wish this one “expert” (who is very knowledgeable but no longer a college admissions director) didn’t plant the seed in her head that she needs to take the new SAT as well. In my DD’s eyes, her mom is well-intentioned, but eye roll where does her mom get off thinking that she might know better than an expert!?! So, it might take a couple phone calls to convince her, and she might have to be the one making the calls so she doesn’t suspect I let my bias shape my interpretation of the answers.
I’m going to miss her when she’s in college … I’m going to miss her when she’s in college … I’m going to miss her when she’s in college …
I just went to one of those standardized test presentations at my D’s private HS. The speaker was a test prep professional… His take was that the “new” SAT was aligning more with the current ACT. Assuming schools really don’t have a preference between the SAT and ACT now, I don’t know why they’d have a preference for the old SAT in the future.
If anything, colleges should prefer the old SAT because they know how given score correlates to success at their institution. FWIW, the tiger mom crowd at my kid’s pretty competitivel school is going for either the old SAT or the ACT. New SAT is far down the list of desirablilty simply because it didn’t have the track record to correlate scores with future success.
