Apparently, TCB believes some Chinese test-takers obtained early access to the exam. So, they cancelled the whole thing.
I’m sure this was their best option if there was a major leak, but it’s kind of sad for all the legit students who have been preparing to take the test and now have to deal with a reschedule.
I do feel for the honest kids, but the Chinese are consistently proving themselves willing to go to extraordinary lengths to cheat. College Board needs to do something drastic to ensure fairness and honesty. Maybe US colleges should also consider a ban on accepting any Chinese students for a year to show they won’t tolerate cheating. I doubt that would ever be considered though.
One of my parents is a college professor and research scientist: for years has said that cheating is rampant among that population. It must be a cultural thing.
My brother taught Economics at a high level Chinese university for a year. Not only did almost all of his students cheat, but they didn’t even worry about being caught and didn’t seem to understand why cheating is bad. Two different sets of parents tried to give him a bribe to obtain a better grade for their kid.
Even if the SATs were banned in China, the wealthier students simply would go to Singapore, Malaysia, Korea to take the test. So although at first it might seem like a good idea, it will just drive the cheaters elsewhere.
Remember, many of the Chinese are quite intelligent people. Recently, the SAT does seem to be comparatively easy. Thus, some already would get excellent scores.
So its not ok to generalize about a population except when one wants to praise their intellectual prowess. Many of any population are quite intelligent.
I think this may be a culture thing. In my experience with Chinese nationals ( I work with them everyday and go to school with 13 Chinese nationals in a graduating class of about 80) They have a completely different concept of what is and is not cheating. For example, they don’t consider it cheating to get help from classmates on tests and assignments or to have a friend with good English skills lengthen a 300 word paper to 500 or 600 hundred words. The people I have seen do this don’t do it maliciously, they just see it as a way to get a good grade, the same as studying or something. At any rate, this really does suck for kids who were honest but I think it’s high time colleges and the collegeboard started being more proactive about cheating. The percentages of fraudulent applications are unbelievable in China and India and it makes it basically impossible for the honest and hard working Chinese/Indian applicants to get in.
There has been cheating on every test for years and years. The CB doesn’t really care until it’s undeniable and hits the press/internet, at which point the CB cancels the test or invalidates the scores. The make-up date will be marred by cheating as well, so the CB (and the honest test-takers in China, many of whom aren’t even Chinese–we’re talking about international school test centers, after all) is just hoping it doesn’t make the news or see the light of day so the test can be carried out and scores can be registered. Grim all around, and the CB must take partial blame for its policy of consistently recycling tests despite the overwhelming evidence that doing so leaves the door open for the most pernicious and flagrant cheaters.
Do they at least get a refund or a reschedule?
Though, if they rescheduled it won’t be until March till they can take again. So the seniors are pretty much screwed right? I am assuming colleges even in China won’t take the March SAT.