Just read another article about cheaters, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/reports-cheating-act-china-reflect-204323450.html
This makes me very upset watching honest kids put in hours of work only to compete with students who are taking shortcut/cheating the system. “GAC is owned and overseen by ACT, Inc.” This is the part I found most offensive. Act is making money on both sides.
Not as pervasive as you might think for the SAT (I teach SAT prep in Korea and can definitely confirm that a very, very small percentage of S. Korean SAT takers cheat).
@marvin100 is that hold true for chinese as well? Who pay $10k a year for sat/act prep course? At that price you would expect to have exposure test material before actual test date.
Yes, even for China. I’ve heard from people who are very, very informed that as of May '16 there has been no widespread SAT cheating in China or Korea.
It was only really possible when (A) the CB hadn’t yet started sending tests in padlocked cases (allowing shady test center employees to leak tests for $$$) and (B) the CB was predictably recycling exams. The new test is too new for that kind of recycling, a fact that is really hindering the kind of cheating that was the real problem. I’m in Seoul, and the places most widely rumored to be serious cheaters are struggling to fill their classrooms. Meanwhile, the places known for honest training are booming.
But when the new type of SAT has been used enough that they start recycling exams, will the cheating based on recycled exams return?
I think the CB will stop recycling and instead create a massive question bank over time, allowing for many configurations of new exams, making it impossible to learn the answers via published answer sheets of previous test dates.
Just kidding, that would be way too much effort for the CollegeBoard.
GAC is owned by ACT, That sure sound like a motive to cheat especially if students are asked to spend 10k a year for ACT prep. Is it normal for someone to pay that kind of fees?
You had me there for a minute.
If the CB recycles as predictably and consistently as it did in the past? Definitely.
This would be a relatively easy thing to do if the SAT was computerized. Pen and paper makes it so much easier for cheaters to get a hold of the questions ahead of time.
I once found a website with every single unreleased past SAT exams with answers, including all special Saturday versions and what not. I heard about it on news and it took 10 minutes for me to locate it using google. All that is useless now with the new SAT. 
For now. Let’s see if the CB learns its lesson and ceases the unconscionable test recycling policy that leaves the door open for the most pernicious forms of cheating.
Colleges are already well aware that a lot of cheating goes on in China. It doesn’t affect you directly, since you’re not in the same applicant pool as the international students.
One tool to vet the legitimacy of the test taker is to make them take the essay version SAT, to see if the live essay writing ability jibes at all with the CR/W score.
I agree. I teach in South Korea and I know the vast majority of students here and in China are honest and hard working. When tests are cancelled (in some cases after having been administered!), innocents bear the brunt of the hardship. Cheaters (and the ACT/CB’s policies that allow them to cheat) are to blame.
Yeah, that would work if the essay weren’t the most gameable part of the test.
“One tool to vet the legitimacy of the test taker is to make them take the essay version SAT, to see if the live essay writing ability jibes at all with the CR/W score.” Over at ACT they are actually claiming that the essay tests entirely different skills and that students who think there should be any correlation are “confused”.
And as loath as I am to agree with the ACT folks, I think they’re right about that.
Some years ago, I worked with a very low income boy who had been accused of cheating on the ACT. ACT determined that his answers patterned somebody’s sitting near him. His score was invalidated despite all of our efforts to appeal it, which included medical evidence of a visual condition he had that would have made it very difficult for him to cheat in that way without being very obvious about it. The proctor did not report anything of the sort. And this kid really wasn’t the type; he was a simple, humble person.
Nevertheless, ACT refused to reverse its decision. Due to this kid’s very difficult home situation and fluctuating work schedule, coupled with pending application deadlines, it was hard to arrange the retake, which resulted in similar scoring, if I recall, so it all ended ok.
Whenever I see stories about massive cheating scandals, here or in other countries, I just burn in anger thinking some kids without a care in the world probably do get away with this. Meanwhile, ACT turned its back on this poor, honest kid despite very credible evidence that they were wrong.