SAT 8/25

@Center from what I have read so far, it is a whole-set reuse! Not part of section/questions. My DS’ first sitting and it is infuriating to say the least!!!

@3scoutsmom
No wonder colleges are dropping SAT…smh!

I think it is the College Board that should modify its behavior. Recycling tests prior to the internet was not much of a problem. However, recycling tests in the age of the Internet is a major problem. The College Board should create a new test for every single sitting.

They only modify behavior if they lose business.

Did they reuse a test that they had RELEASED internationally or was a test used at an international sitting that was stolen and published online?

It’s interesting that there is such an outcry among the students with lots of rumors about canceling the scores - it seems this test administration had higher visibility due to the June fiasco combined with reports of so many Asian travelers in test centers. CB did not need another kick to its brand, though perhaps the duopoly can afford it.

I doubt they will find a way to not reuse tests that were only administered to a small portion of students, as I sense the uncommon forms may be experimental. I wonder whether the many (>20?) uncommon test forms from June weren’t quite ready for a major administration yet, as in, perhaps test production and/or equating were behind schedule, or whether this reuse was planned all along. There was always a risk that the rollout of the New test was too rapid, as discussed in some of the Reuters reports, if I recall. Perhaps it’s time for CB to rehire ETS to write the test instead of writing it in-house.

@suzyQ7 The test was stolen - or recreated - and published in physical Chinese practice tests books and online. But, my understanding is that this may be true of all international administrations of the New test.

If a test has been administered, the College Board ( and ACT for that matter) should know that they can’t prevent the contents of the test questions from being discussed and/or released. A quick look at Reddit is all the evidence that the College Board should need to realize that the contents of an administered test are not secure regardless of whether or not that test was officially released.

I agree that the College Board will only modify its behavior if its current practices result in loss of profit. How sad.

I find it less believable that your son can accurately identify the nationality of random strangers by appearance.

The fact that they were all speaking Mandarin (confirmed by my son’s ethnically Chinese friend - who was also there) to each other was a small hint. It was also funny to see all the parents snapping group photos after the test.

My D noticed a lot of Asian nationals at her test center, because of the passports they carried. They were not U.S. passports.

If this is true - then the College Board has quite a mess on its hands

“As students left testing centers nationwide Saturday, having finished taking the SAT, reports started to circulate that some may have had an unfair advantage because of leaked versions of the test that had been circulating in South Korea and China.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/08/27/reports-circulate-saturdays-sat-included-questions-available-asia

My son took the SAT in Falls Church, VA and was really caught off-guard by the number of people that appeared to be Chinese nationals taking the test with him.

@allyphoe seriously? it is quite believable.

The SAT is offered three fewer times/year internationally in the 6 months prior to college applications than in the U.S. There is no international SAT in June, August, or November. So it makes sense for those international students who can afford a trip to the the U.S. to choose August as the most convenient date to take an additional test. They’ve had all summer to study and Chinese students are in school in June and November.

Funny, when I’ve been in a room full of people who were all speaking Mandarin, the ones whose citizenship I was privy to have been mostly US citizens, with the rest mostly Taiwanese. But then I’ve never felt it was my business to go looking at other people’s passports, either. Maybe it’s a regional difference?

Well the kids are required to show ID when they take the test–so everyone sees them in line. Also, go on a tour of Andover, Exeter, St Pauls, Tabor, Mercersburg etc and you will see groups of students and parents touring with guides and translators. American education is really just a big business and the demand by foreign students, particularly asian students is enormous. The last time I was in a room full of people speaking Mandarin was in a classroom in New Jersey–cantonese New York City. I doubt it is regional.

@allyphoe Your comment about the passports is snarky and unnecessary. No one was going about looking at other passports deliberately. But when you are in line waiting to check in, ids are out. There’s no ‘unseeing’ that.

People need to suspend common sense now when figuring out who is a foreign national?

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Let’s move on from debating how one determines if one if a foreign national while waiting to check-in for their SAT please.

This certainly is a fiasco for the CB, especially following the June SAT. I suspect little will be done beyond canceling scores for those who have dramatic improvements from previous tests. Certainly, this could have been avoided and the CB has some explaining to do.

Yes, and all domestic ones as well.

Why should all domestic ones as well be cancelled? US students did not take the test in October 2017 overseas and I doubt were privy to buying the test in Asia.