"Giving Chioce and Taking It Away": Inside Higher Ed on Score Choice

Parents Forum
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[College Board] says this about Score Choice: “Designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience, the College Board has approved Score Choice, an important change to the current SAT score-reporting policy. This new policy will give students the option to choose the SAT scores by sitting (test date) and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test that they send to colleges, at no additional cost.” Later, the board notes that colleges can still “set their own test requirements,” but it doesn’t say that the College Board is specifically giving them easy ways to deviate from the public face of Score Choice.</p>

<p>On a separate Web page for colleges — not publicized by the College Board — the association asks admissions offices to “keep in mind that Score Choice was developed to reduce student test-taking stress.” But among the five options it gives colleges is the one it is boasting about eliminating — where colleges receive every score (No. 5 if you follow the link at the beginning of this paragraph.) Further, only two of the remaining four items feature language requiring colleges to only consider the highest scores visible (No. 2 and No. 4). These two policies have colleges pledge to update applicant records every time a higher score arrives, so that the only tests visible upon review would be those on which student scores are highest. Options No. 1 and No. 3 notably do not contain that pledge. The fact that these options are being offered to colleges has not been publicized to students by the College Board.

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<p>Giving</a> Choice and Taking It Away :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, Views and Jobs</p>

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<p>That's interesting. Still, no one has answered the question: How does a college know if a student has submitted all of their test scores? Can college board release them without a student's permission if a college chooses option 5?</p>

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<p>While it is questionable the whether Score Choice will, "reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience", it is unmistakable that it will result in more tests being taken and hence more revenue for College Board.</p>

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<p>prefect -- A college doesn't know if a student has submitted all scores; students will be making required submissions on the honor system. Federal statutes (privacy laws) prohibit CB from releasing scores without students' permission. The only thing the reinstituion of Score Choice is guaranteed to create is more confusion and stress for students.</p>

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<p>This is how I read the CB page, though it doesn't seem to be how Higher Learning is reading it:</p>

<p>It sounds to me that, depending on what school they're sending their scores to, students will be told what the school wants and what needs to be sent to that particular school (from the lines about "students will be instructed to.") therefore, I don't get where the characterization of this as "secret" comes from--the college option, it sounds like, will be made clear to the students when they send their scores.</p>

<p>As far as what will happen if a student opts not to send all to an Option 5 school, my guess is that the CB notification will indicate whether score choice was chosen or not, thus notifying the school that they didn't get what they required.</p>

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<p>This really makes a mess of things for students who want to represent their achievement carefully. If a school is in the option 1 camp, a student has to worry about the effect of a low math score from the sitting where they aced the critical reading. Option 3 has a similar problem--what to do when you have a superb section score from a sitting that wasn't your top cumulative score. As Garland points out, kids have to worry about CB "ratting them out" at option 5 schools. And the choice that's the most humane to students (#2-just submit anything you want and we'll consider ONLY the highest individual section scores), is the one that benefits CB the most.</p>

<p>Nice job of ratcheting down the anxiety level, CB!</p>

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<p>Option #2 is the policy for ACT tests and it works just fine.</p>

<p>If you aren't a National Merit Semi-Finalist, try the ACT, and if it goes well, you don't need to take the SAT. You might need to take some SAT II's but no college requires the SAT I for people who have taken the ACT with writing and submit that ACT score.</p>

<p>If you take the SAT I, you still seem to risk having some colleges see a try at the SAT that did not go well. </p>

<p>Would that rough SAT score have to go in with your SAT II Scores? It sounds like it would.</p>

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<p>Garland,
what happens if a student selects score choice and gets a 2300 on their first try. He/she decides not to test again. A school sees "score choice" and one score of 2300, so that student is suspected of hiding scores? That doesn't seem right. Is score choice selected at registration or after a student sees his/her scores?</p>

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<p>They can make the selection to send it to the college after they get the test results back, or resend it as not "score choice."</p>

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<p>
[quote]
it is unmistakable that it will result in more tests being taken and hence more revenue for College Board.

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<p>Not only $$ from additional test taking, but CB will rake it in from test reporting since (if they follow the ACT model), you'll have to pay separately to report each and every test.</p>

<p>btw: I agree with the commenters on the IHE website. Colleges always have made their own decisions regarding testing. Yale, USC, Stanford and Pomona (I think) have already publicly stated that they will require ALL scores. This article is about nothing new. It would have been more interesting for IHE to ask those colleges that will now require all SAT scores why they have not heretofore done so for the ACT...</p>

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<p>I thought I saw a screen shot somewhere of how the different requirements would work: when you choose to send your scores to a school that allow choice, a drop down menu appears where you select the scores you want to report. For schools that require all scores, the drop down menu automatically selects all the scores.</p>

<p>This whole thing is so aggravating. CB not having figured out how to structure it, makes timing the tests more difficult. If one is a little iffy about some of the subject tests, it makes a real difference if you know you have score choice or not.</p>

<p>I HATE the lack of choice. As a consumer, it should be up to us to decide which information we choose to share and which not. After all, we're the ones paying for it.</p>

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<p>Still think colleges should only see the lowest scores, with a signed statement from the student that they have not received any paid assistance in preparing for test.</p>

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<p>Screen shots and the main College Board page on the policy: </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice-juniors-presentation.ppt%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice-juniors-presentation.ppt&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice-juniors-presentation-pdf.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-score-choice-juniors-presentation-pdf.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>

<p>Why I never worried about this in the first place, from my FAQ: </p>

<p>ONE-TIME TEST-TAKING </p>

<p>Colleges have given up trying to distinguish one-time test-takers from two-time or three-time or even four-time test-takers, because that wasn't useful information to the colleges. There are a number of reasons for that. </p>

<p>1) The colleges have utterly no way of knowing who spends all his free time practicing taking standardized tests and who takes them "cold." </p>

<p>2) The colleges are well aware that students who have actually taken the tests sometimes cancel scores, so they have little incentive to give students bonus consideration if the students submit only one test score. </p>

<p>3) The colleges are aware that students who take the admission tests at middle-school age, who are numerous, do not have their earlier test scores submitted by default. </p>

<p>SAT</a> Younger than 13 </p>

<p>Hoagies</a>' Gifted: Talent Search Programs </p>

<p>Duke</a> TIP - Interpreting SAT and ACT Scores for 7th Grade Students </p>

<p>4) Colleges are aware that the majority of students who take the SAT at all take it more than once. </p>

<p><a href="http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/Avg_Scores_of_Repeat_Test_Takers.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>5) Colleges are in the business of helping students learn, and they don't mind students taking efforts to improve their scores. They know that students prepare for tests. </p>

<p>From the New York Times: "Although coaching would no doubt continue if subject tests replaced the SAT, at least students would be focused on content as much as test-taking strategies, Mr. Murray said. There would also be pressure to improve local high school curriculums so that students were prepared, he wrote.</p>

<p>"These arguments make sense to Mr. Fitzsimmons [dean of admission at Harvard], who said, 'People are going to prepare anyway, so they might as well study chemistry or biology.' He added that 'the idea of putting more emphasis on the subject tests is of great interest' to his group." </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/education/19sat.html?pagewanted=print&lt;/a> </p>

<p>6) And now the College Board is back in the business of letting students choose which test scores to send into colleges, </p>

<p>Score</a> Choice - New SAT Score-Reporting Policy </p>

<p>so now there is less reason than ever to suppose that colleges care how many times you take the test, because the colleges have no way to know how many times you took the test officially. </p>

<p>Colleges treat applicants uniformly now by considering their highest scores, period. </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/349391-retake-how-many-times-take-sat-act.html#post4198038&lt;/a> </p>

<p><a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/viewbook/Rollo0809_GuideApplying.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores—even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates." </p>

<p>See also a Newsweek article about the renewed score choice policy adopted by College Board. </p>

<p>Reactions</a> to College Board's SAT Score Choice | Newsweek Education | Newsweek.com </p>

<p>Some colleges want to see all scores a student has ever obtained, period, but as one admission officer asks, if "a student submits a single best sitting of 2320," does anyone really care "how low were her other score sets?" </p>

<p>An January 2009 email from Dartmouth's assistant director of admissions clarifies the issue: "At Dartmouth we consider a student's highest SAT I score in each category (or their highest composite ACT score) and their two highest SAT II Subject Test scores, regardless of how many times they have taken the tests. We never discount a student's highest score, even if they have taken the SAT multiple times. I do hope that students will not feel the pressure to take the SAT tests four or five times (the data suggests that scores typically do not improve after the second try), but we will always consider the student's highest scores."</p>

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<p>Applicants have no way of knowing for sure whether a given college admissions committee will see all scores and/or disregard lower scores in making admissions decisions. I think it’s important to remember that there are real live humans sitting on the other side of those applications folders, each with his/her own preconceptions and attitudes. Depending on who is reviewing the file, multiple sittings, large variations in scores over several sittings, etc. may have an impact on how a student is perceived, and that impact may be the difference between acceptance and rejection.</p>

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<p>
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Still think colleges should only see the lowest scores, with a signed statement from the student that they have not received any paid assistance in preparing for test.

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<p>No, I don't think you really do. This penalizes all kids who have an off day. Kids who are taking a subject test that they might not have been as ready for as they thought. Homeschoolers for whom it is often "suggested" that they provide as many tests scores as possible. It doesn't allow the possibility of a second chance, and increases the pressure these unfortunate exams cause even more.</p>

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<p>Agree with wjb!
Maybe I don't have as much faith in what the colleges <em>say</em> they will do versus what may end up happening intentionally or unintentionally as ta does. I would rather be able to control what goes in front of them, than, rely on them ignoring low scores , retakes, etc.
I agree with the poster who likened it to: "the jury is instructed to ignore the testimony it has just heard" ?</p>

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<p>Tokenadult--I disagree with you (and the Harvard guy) that all kids prep for the tests. And even more so, I disagrree that they "might as well learn a subject." First of all, I don't think you learn biology, chem, etc, by cramming for it. And more importantly, I have no doubt that this would more than now reward the kids from the "better" schools, whether private schools or publics in affluent towns. Kids who go to schools with less subject preparation will be at much more of a disadvantage than they are with the SAT 1. I saw that clearly with my own kids.</p>

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<p>
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First of all, I don't think you learn biology, chem, etc, by cramming for it.

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<p>No one in the quoted passage (or in my post) said anyone learns chemistry by cramming. </p>

<p>I agree with the statement that kids with fewer resources in general have fewer means to show they are ready for college. The QuestBridge program is one attempt to deal with that issue, by comparing a group of students who submit descriptions of what has limited their resources and how they have still managed to prepare for college. I know one QB finalist from this year's graduating class.</p>

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<p>That's a great program, but it serves a tiny fraction of the kids from HSs which teach limited depth of subjects. The kids in my kids' HS are at an enormous disadvantage in subject tests. AT least SAT 1 is not a subject: the math level is covered in pretty much every school; the verbal is more a function of reading interest. This is not a school where students are going to, by and large, qualify for QB. It's just a typical inner suburb, lower to middle class school.</p>

<p>Elevating SAT 2 over SAT 1 is another way to stack the deck against kids from sub-wonderful schools. QB doesn't begin to bridge that gap for the vast majority of students, nor shoudl it be expected to.</p>

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<p>There is something seriously wrong with a system that forces students to pay for a required test and then gives them no control over its use. It feels like an adhesion contract at best and extortion, at worst. Now that I have finally figured it out after 2 kids, I will have my 3rd take only the ACT. (And of course, the monopoly known as the SAT IIs, where required, like at our state school!).</p>