SAT Score Delays for "Administrative Review"?

Test Preparation
21

<p>After an almost two month delay (and after pretty much ignoring several phone calls from us), I'm happy to report that the ETS has finally released our daughter's SAT scores. Apparently they've satisfied themselves that she didn't cheat.</p>

<p>She went from a 570 to a 770 in Critical Reading and a 510 to a 660 in Math. She went down on the Writing section, though, from a 650 to a 620.</p>

<p>This was an eye-opening experience for us in several ways. First, it confirmed that, frankly, the system stinks. ETS holds all the cards. They couldn't care less about the individual student and thought nothing of making our daughter wait. Their non-responsiveness was absolutely appalling.</p>

<p>Second, the experience shows just how unreliable the SAT really is. Our daughter's 1430/2080 score is considerably higher than both of her older sisters, both of whom did much better than she did in high school and both of whom had their choice of elite colleges. We love daughter number three dearly, but there is no way that she is better prepared for college than her two sisters were. </p>

<p>Finally, what's with the writing section? Our daughter got a 9 on the essay, meaning that one review saw fit to give her a 4 while the other decided she merited a 5. Such subjectivity is uncalled for in a "standardized" test.</p>

<p>In short, I used to think the SAT meant something -- not everything, mind you, but something when it comes to gauging a student's intelligence and readiness for college. Now I'm convinced it's just a racket.</p>

22

<p>It may not work in individual cases very much, but the vast majority of smarter kids will do better on the test, it's that simple. The exceptions are often few and far between.</p>

<p>I think the SAT measures things, but I don't think preparedness for college is one of them unfortunately. Though your d got a 4 and a 5, differing scores, the scores still can't differ by more than one point, and the essay graders go through the same training. It's bound to be somewhat subjective, though, because that's the only part of the test with a human element.</p>

23

<p>What does that mean? Is it good or bad?</p>