Regarding superscoring and "taking the best scores of each section"

Applying to College
1

<p>I thought about putting this in the SAT forum, but it does not pertain to taking the SAT so much as to how the test relates to college admissions. If it needs to be moved, apologies. Also I apologize if this has been asked before.</p>

<p>Many colleges say that they only take the highest scores from each section, regardless of test date. But to me these two look very different:</p>

<p>Student 1
Test #1: 800, 800, 800</p>

<p>Student 2
Test #1: 690, 800, 760
Test #2: 800, 730, 800</p>

<p>If I'm adcom and I see this, I have a permanent first impression stamped into my head. If these two students are 100% equal in every other aspect and there was one spot left, I would take Student 1.</p>

<p>So if colleges do it this way then it is not really fair. But perhaps they do it this way: they have somebody who is not on the admissions committee go through each app and take the top scores from each section, and enter it into a new file which is then presented to adcom. So the adcom only sees this:</p>

<p>Student 1
Superscore: 800, 800, 800</p>

<p>Student 2
Superscore: 800, 800, 800</p>

<p>Or perhaps they have that person check to see if the superscores meet a certain threshold, and then the scores are thrown out and never considered again.</p>

<p>Can anyone who has a better understanding of this please clarify? I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

2

<p>I am surprised that the scores for student two went up and down that much. Kind of like “need blind” admissions. If they are need blind the SOLELY look at the super score, if not it seems as if they take the best score. </p>

<p>I see no difference, however, between a 2400 and a 2330.</p>

3

<p>Already some schools claim to be blind to anything lower than your highest scores. Sometimes there is doubt that actually occurs, and the judging that you have mentioned in the first example would occur. It does seem more fair, but it would enforce what is already claimed.</p>

4

<p>If student 2’s score went down that much, it would factor in how inconsistent that student is. And the because there is little difference may show how less of a factor SAT scores are becoming, or how standard it is to make a really high score.</p>

5

<p>I thought they were taking out superscore starting this year, and replacing it with score-choice?</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>It happens. My scores were</p>

<p>Test 1: 730 780 670
Test 2: 800 720 800</p>

<p>so my superscore was an 800, 780, 800, which was better than any individual test.</p>

7

<p>They look different to you because you have the mindset of the SAT being some sort of challenge in itself. I’m pretty sure colleges have the mindset of the SAT being just a way to measure how prepared students are, academically. So they see that both students are able to do “perfectly” academically in three different areas, and that’s all they care about.</p>

<p>I’m also pretty sure that admissions officers are paid to not have “permanent first impressions stamped into their heads”. I understand your point, but the fact is that these people are professionals and their job involves being as thoughtful as they can be.</p>