Proud Parent, Average Student, Solid Choices

<p>Do employers really ask for SAT scores?
While my younger daughter was accepted to all the schools she applied, I didn’t even open the envelope containing her scores & I doubt she saw them. SHe doesn’t test well, and that wasn’t a surprise so we didn’t feel we needed to know.</p>

<p>I do remember what my older daughters were ( before recentering-) but that was because she had taken them in 7th grade as well & I was relieved they went up!
;)</p>

<p>I am amazed that there are a few companies doing this. That feels like a discrimination lawsuit to me (I have been employed in a HR department). Not all kids take the SATs so to require that scores be reported is discriminatory to those that did not take SATs. What about older employees? What about foreign candidates? What about kids from ACT states? I’m incredibly disbelieving that this isn’t in reality an urban myth from candidates that were ultimately not hired and utilizing it as a “reason.”</p>

<p>ROTCherewego, I said "I’m not really advocating lying about this, but I’m convinced it’s happened since it would be easy to do and hard to catch. " As you said upthread, don’t shoot the messenger! Some people do lie on employment applications about their GPA, their previous positions, their degrees, what schools they attended. You gave an example. These are all things that are straightforward for a employer to check directly with the school or previous employer, yet not all employers do so. With SAT scores, the only way to get verification of the score is to ask the potential employee to get a copy of the score report and provide it to the employer. In other words, it has to pass through the employee’s hands. If someone is going to lie about their scores, it wouldn’t be impossible to come up with a sealed envelope score report that confirmed the fradulently reported scores.</p>

<p>momofthree - of course you are free to believe what you want but the young man I mentioned is someone I know well and that is what he was told by the companies. He was applying in a pretty heady field where it also seemed to matter very much where you went to school and perhaps who you knew. As it turns out, he got a fantastic job so it all ended well.</p>

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<p>this is not an urban legend. I heard, directly or through secondary sources, plenty of examples. Not all the employers do it. But, some of the “very reputable and well known” employers do it, as already mentioned by other other posters. </p>

<p>For whatever reason, you seem very determined not to believe that this can happen regardless of the examples provided by other people. That’s your belief. I have no vested interest to change your mind. But for those who would rather consider all facts based on actual occurrences to increase their odds of having as many options as possible for their future prospects, and those who still have the time to affect the outcome, this is something they may want to look into. That’s the intent of my original point, not to justify the current practice which I think is crazy (I thought I was doing a favor by letting folks know about this reality, and I get pounded for it!!!). The fact that this sounds like an utterly stupid practice does not mean that you can make it go away by ignoring it or challenging people who bring it to your attention.</p>

<p>By the way, the companies are looking for SAT or ACT, not just SAT. So, it’s not a discrimination against people who are taking an alternative test. Furthermore, there is nothing illegal about this. Last time I checked, taking or not taking a test is a CHOICE with no relevance to one’s life style decisions, and as such is not a ground of discrimination law suite. If colleges are basing, in part, their admission decision on SAT, what makes you think that companies can’t use the same test for their employment decision without any legal consequences? Don’t you think the likes of Goldman Sach’s must have awesome lawyers to make sure they don’t do anything so patently illegal? </p>

<p>So, believe whatever you want to believe. Some of us would rather have all the facts, even the ones that we really do not approve, to guide our actions and choices.</p>

<p>Ok the thread has taken a wierd turn for the worse. Let’s be civilized, everyone is entitled to an opinion and everyone should respect each others veiwpoint. Typically employers look at the full picture when considering an applicant, that picture may vary based on the position and companies hiring protocol. If an employer requires a test score or any other information for employment than the applicant should always be honest and tell the truth.</p>

<p>Yes, there are companies that ask for SAT scores, and many, many do ask for grades. My H’s company asks for both, but the grades and courses taken are more relevant than the SAT scores. H has no idea what his department’s scores are and he hired everyone there. He did not even look at them. Unfortunately, there are folks who do take it into consideration. </p>

<p>I can tell you that a high SAT score with very low grades can put off employers. I know that though my H is interested in looking at the grades, he does not put a lot of weight on them. And he only looks anything pertaining to college for those who are newly out of school. Anyone with a work track record has that scrutinized and it will trump grades and SAT and college anyday. Though most of his employees are college grads, he has hired a number who are not. They had work track records that transcended the college block.</p>

<p>To get back to the OP’s news, Congratulations! This remains a country of great opportunity where children can exceed their parents’ dreams through hard work.</p>