Seems that some schools in calculating superscore require students to send all sections from any test that are using. (i.e. only using the English section score as the “best” score but need to send math, science, reading for that date as well). Does anyone feel uneasy that school will see some really low scores or does someone crunch all those numbers and present the AO with the actual superscore and high-test score for each date/section?
File it under “it is what it is.” If the college says they superstore, not believing them changes nothing
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It might have some impact where the scores are borderline in terms of submitting
This would only be a possible issue for schools that require official scores…( those that don’t allow self-reporting…and self-report where you can).
Generally, I believe AOs when they say they evaluate applicants using their strongest scores. There seems little point to a college superscoring if they are going to take lower scores into account.
actually even with self reporting some require all scores for a given date.
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As a parent, you are doing your kid a great disservice by fretting about minutiae you cannot control. Be a role model and don’t overthink
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i think a valid question. only some schools require this and want to make informed decisions where possible. i thought that the point of CC?
It would be helpful if you list the schools that require this…the common app only allows applicants to enter the highest composite score and highest score from each section, regardless of dates taken.
I agree with ski, it is what it is…you have to give schools what they want, unless you kid chooses to apply TO (if that’s an option).
Again, identifying these schools would be helpful.
What does your kid want to do? Us the student seriously thinking about not applying to colleges based on reporting requirements.
It’s certainly not to tell you want to hear when you’re wrong. IMO (because my lawyers require me to say that).
But as another user pointed out, more specific info from you will elicit mire specific responses.
FWIW since you are asking the question:
This came up recently with a friend, for SAT:
Common app for many schools has “self report” the verbal and math for the highest verbal score sitting , and then asks for the verbal and math for the date with highst math. I have seen this for many schools for SAT.
The kid had 710 & 650 on one test, 700 and 700 on the other. The advice of the counselor was to just report the 700-700, to those schools where all four numbers would need to be reported, because the benefit of the 10 points did not outweigh “seeing” the 650. Parent asked my opinion and i said go w what the counselor said to do. This kid wants Stem and the 650 is a math score.
So. The schools do say they superscore and i agree you can’t spend time worrying BUT there are well-regarded counselors out there who in certain situations think it may make sense to just report the single score.
Yes, correct the common app only asks for the hight score for each section but other colleges, once you submit your application then ask you to self report scores.(again) They ask for all sections for any given date you are using and then they will super score. Richmond (Possibly Hamilton?) is one example we have encountered so far but many ask you to help report by sending a screen shot or pdf for each date. The SAT example is clear cut and I would agree. My DS is considering going TO at some schools so he is trying to make informed decisions as best he can. I agree nobody knows what happens at these schools but given the depth of information on this site I thought someone might have better info than we did. Not sure why this question is offensive.
It’s a good point because super-scoring is typically optional at schools that don’t require the reporting of all tests taken, and really is intended to help students put their best foot forward. Also, the schools are happy to combine high section scores to help their stats.
As for @Cloudybay23’s question, if an applicant has achieved a score demonstrating improved capability in a section, it is hard to see how disclosing a lower score in the same section from a prior sitting would be worse than giving up the super score bump. The question is, where would the student then land in the school’s test score range, and is this actually a choice between super-scoring or going TO (if available)?
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Agree—and as I think about it , the 710/650 was the NEW recent score, about a year after the other one. Maybe that was part of the reason for the recommendation as well?
I can report that with regard to reporting test scores and choosing to go TO or not, there is a wide variance as to the recommendations of counselors (HS and independents) with respect to these decisions (as evidenced by the volume of discussions on counselor list servs and in FB groups). As with any profession, there is a wide range of capabilities and decision making processes.
I have yet to hear an AO (at a school that superscores and doesn’t require sending all scores) suggest that lower scores/those not used in the SS calc could hurt an applicant.
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Again, I think there is leeway here. While we are all parsing this question and schools are trying to signal increased selectivity, everyone knows that depending on the question mix of the tests provided on the days you sat, you can easily see a 40-point swing, all other variables excluded.
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The worst that could happen is the student won’t be admitted. But if he doesn’t apply because he’s doesn’t want to send all his scores, he also won’t be admitted.
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unfortunately a couple of sections on act went down quite q bit but one went up…he wil apply for sure. more issue of sending just one score or both or going TO.
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If the college requires ALL test scores from all sittings, there’s a reason for that. I probably would submit as TO to those schools. Otherwise, just superscore.
Other than Georgetown, I don’t think there’re any other colleges that still explicitly require all scores.
OP seems to suggest that some of them may implicitly request (require?) all scores. If they do, they want the scores along with the dates the tests were taken for a reason. No one here would know if they choose to “holistically” evaluate all the test scores submitted. They don’t have to tell anyone else.
I think some confusion. This is not a Georgetown situation. For some schools when you self report ACT, while the college will superscore whatever you send they want the complete test not just the scores you want to use for that test.
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