<p>DD's been impressed by Conn (me too!) and will probably apply next year. But I admit to being perplexed by the standardized test policy and the justifications for it given on the Conn admissions website. I'd understand if they just said, "you know, we find that achievement tests like the SATII and ACT give us marginally more ability to predict academic success, so that's why we require them." The data supports this, even if the difference in predicitive power btw. SATIIs vs. SATReasoning is tiny (and maybe smaller still with the new writing section).</p>
<p>But, the logic on the college's website seems, to put it gently, less than perfect:</p>
<p>What really puzzles me, though, is how much emphasis the Conn policy (2 SATIIs or ACT, plus SAT-optional) places on standardized testing. D is very typical, I think, of Conn applicants: she's not applying to any elites that require SATIIs, many of her match/safties are SAT-optional, and she's from east of the Mississippi, so she wouldn't ordinarily take the ACT. But to maximize her chances at Conn, she'll take SATIIs (in addition to APs in some of the same subjects), the SAT (probably more than once), and maybe even the ACT, just for Conn. She'll then mix and match the best of those scores (choosing the better of ACT/SATII and sending or withholding SATs depending on how the scores compare to he CC mean) essentially to game the system. This set-up also grants such an obvious advantage to affluent students. </p>
<p>I wonder if anyone else finds this policy unusual, or if there is someone from ConnCollege admissions lurking who can perhaps point out something I'm missing.</p>
<p>My son will be applying to ConnCollege. He has taken SATs and ACT, the ACT being the slightly better score (30). He is now scheduled for SAT IIs this coming weekend. The website states ACT or SAT IIs. Just wondering now if the SAT IIs are necessary. Also, what is the difference between Math level 1 and Math level 2 for SATs? Thanks!</p>
<p>Since his ACT is comfortably above the mean for Conn (28), he wouldn't necessarily need to take the SATIIs (but you've probably paid already and if the SATII scores wind up even better in relation to the Conn average, he could send them instead of, or in addition to the ACT scores). Kind of nice for him to know that the pressuure is off. Good luck to him this weekend! Just curious, is he taking the SATIIs only because of Conn's requirements? </p>
<p>Math level 1 is aimed at students who have had two years of algebra plus geom. Level two is for students who have had an additional year of math: pre-calc/advanced math/advanced math with trig or whatever it's called in your son's school. (Level 2 has more complex functions, trig, etc.)</p>
<p>Hi- He is signed up only because at the time, he wasn't sure about which colleges he'd be applying to and what their requirements would be. He would much rather be running in his cross country race this weekend than taking his SATs. Conn College is one of his top choices and I don't even know at this point, if the other colleges are requiring SAT IIs.</p>
<p>basically conn is giving the applicant the choice of which test best highlights their capabilities. there has to be some standardization involved just to have a measuring stick to compare across applicants, but this offers more flexibility than the schools that insist on just the SAT1.
it should be pointed out though that the standardized test scores are a very small part of the application, and conn is much more impressed by courseload and activities.</p>