My D would like to use score choice when applying to Hamilton. She wants to send her three best scores which are two from the SAT Reasoning test and one from the SAT2. As best I can tell from my study of the college board website I believe it is not possible to split up the SAT scores, only possible to split up SAT2 subject scores. In other words, she cannot choose 2 scores from an SAT Reasoning sitting (leaving out the third score). Score choice only allows her to choose a specific test date’s scores and send all three test results for that date, then choose which SAT2 subject score she wants to send.
I have already asked the gc if she could put the scores we want on the transcript but she told me that if they come on the transcript they will have to send ALL the scores from every sitting. She says she cannot break it apart because of the way the transcript is generated.
Am I wrong about how score choice works? Has anyone else run into this problem? Any advice?
I believe that is exactly how College Board’s score choice works.
If i remember correctly, you can indicate that you would like to use score choice in Common App, the My Colleges tab.
However, Hamilton College states that they’ll use the best score from all the scores you send to them. And according to many posters here, the school stands by its statement. I personally submitted all my score history, including the third SAT1 score in which I performed the worst.
If I were your D, I would simply send that SAT1 test and the SAT2 score and work harder on the essays, which I believed are more important. But only take my opinion as a grain of salt as I’m only a prospective student, not yet admitted.
How would we go about getting around the College Board technicalities? When we talked to the Hamilton rep at a college fair this summer he said we would be all set with the 2 scores from SAT I and the third coming from the SAT 2. But College Board doesn’t allow that option.
I am beginning to think we will have to send all her SAT I scores plus the one she wants included from the SAT 2. The SAT I combined is a 1940. With the two SAT I scores she wants to send plus the one SAT 2 she would have a 2040. Should we worry?
The answer depends partly on whether the SAT subject test, in combination with the desired two SAT sections, fulfills Hamilton’s testing requirement. For example, if you would like the SAT math section to be exempt from consideration, then the SAT subject test must be quantitative in nature.
Since CB is firm regarding their policy and her school is as well, Hamilton will apparently at some point “see” all of her scores. However, Hamilton’s site, taken literally, indicates they will combine all scores in a way that is favorable to the applicant. In your daughter’s case, a heterogeneous superscoring formula will indeed produce a score of 2040. This is an excellent score and, by this provisional analysis, should keep her right in the mix for full consideration.