Sending SAT scores ahead of time?

<p>Do you think that my D should be sending SAT scores ahead of time to the colleges (that is, at the time of registering online to take the SAT)? Is it true that when she applies to the colleges, they will have all of her SAT scores?So, why not just save time and money and list the colleges that she would like to attend at the time of registering to take the SAT?
I would appreciate your input.</p>

<p>Just a couple of thoughts. It's really not worth worrying about. Most (maybe not all, but most) will look at the highest score, so there's really no problem with having the score sent. If she is also going to be taking the ACT, though, she might wait to see what test she does better on. But even then, most schools say they will look at scores from both tests and take the highest test. Some people are extremely nervous about schools seeing their "lesser" scores, but IMHO that fear is overblown.</p>

<p>I thought about this too. I was afraid that some schools would lose the sat scores, if sent too early. If you sent in the scores to somes schools, and then retook it, if you did better the second time, then you would need to pay again. I guess if you did poorly the second time, then the schools would not see the scores, if you were not taking sat IIs, and you sent in your first sat I scores. Also, if you are not sure where you applying yet, then you need to wait. My son sent his scores the end of August. He also checked with each school after all documents were sent, to make sure that everything was received. One school did lose his transcript, and it needed to be resent. This was a rolling admissions school, so this created a little bit of anxiety.</p>

<p>I agree with lderochi's comments about the lower scores.</p>

<p>Each time you take the SAT you can list up to 4 schools you would like the scores to be sent to for free. If you choose not to list any schools then down the road you will have to pay to have them sent. I think it's $10 per school. </p>

<p>S took the SAT in Dec. of Jr. year and listed 4 schools, one of which he is is now attending. When he re-took SAT in Oct. of Sr. year, he listed 2 different schools than the first time and one of the originals again.<br>
He is at a large state u. and they still had his Jr. year score at application time so we did not have to pay to have it sent. Maybe we were just lucky.
Also AP's work the same way. If you don't list the places you would like them sent when you sign up for the test, you will have to pay for each school you send them to later (used to be $15 apiece).</p>

<p>Packmom:</p>

<p>Save some bucks and do NOT send AP scores until child has chosen his/her college; that is why CB gives you only one free AP score report. Just self-report the scores in the "Other" section of the app.</p>

<p>Packmom is right about that too. Our goal was to make sure that all schools had the scores in a timely manner (especially EA and rolling schools). My son did not get his sats scores timely in the spring of his junior year (it came 2 weeks later). This gave us a scare, so saving money was not our goal.</p>

<p>My daughter took the SAT once and SAT2s on two separate occasions. We followed the following strategy - sent the initial SAT scores to "safety" colleges that did not require SAT2s. Sent the first SAT2 scores to colleges that only required 1 SAT2. Sent the final SAT2 scores to her most selective colleges. These were all done well before she applied, and none lost her scores.</p>

<p>I sent some SAT2s to Columbia from 10th grade, when I wasn't even sure where I was applying (of course). I sent them to some other schools too, but I didn't end up applying. Anyhoo, Columbia's tracking system listed my SAT scores from 10th grade when I applied :) I think it's electronic and pretty hard to lose.</p>

<p>Is is necessary to send AP scores? Our h.s. school lists them on the transcript, so we never asked for them to be sent separately. We only requested SAT 1 and 2 scores from College Board and transcripts from the h.s. Am I missing something?</p>

<p>absolutely not necessary to send official scores. But, I also don't recommend putting them on the HS transcript unless they are all great. For example, a three is a fine score for many colleges, but not Harvard. Thus, it adds nothing to your total application package to H, and could detract since many kids applying to H have 4's, and likely, mostly 5's.</p>

<p>I still have one question - here's a hypothetical situation to explain what I mean:</p>

<p>Say my D took the SAT the first time and got a 2100, but the second time she took it, she got a 2300. She did NOT have either score sent to the colleges at the time of SAT registration. Now she would be applying for college. When she orders score reports to send her 2300 score to the colleges she is applying to, will the colleges still see her 2100 score?</p>

<p>Yes, they will see all previous scores.</p>

<p>So, does it make sense to just send the scores with the last testing? The schools will see them all low and high.</p>

<p>Sure, that works too. Even if the previous ones don't have all the scores on them, I just feel like I'm wasting the 4 "free" reports lol.</p>

<p>bluejay, Some people feel that low scores could have a negative impact on admission decisions. In my experience, most schools say that they consider your highest scores, mixing and matching. I have heard that not all schools do this though. Every school that my son called mixed and matched, and were looking at the highest scores for admission consideration.</p>

<p>My son had his scores sent for free in his junior year, well before he applied anywhere. Although I was a tad worried about this approach, no school lost them.</p>

<p>Since we receive one free AP score report,should we have that one sent to us or to the first choice college? Someone here mentioned that the AP scores sent to the other colleges should be handwritten somewhere on the college application. Do the colleges want an official AP score report or will the handwritten one work?</p>

<p>At our kds' HS, they list ALL test scores, including your APs, I believe. I'm not sure whether you can request that they keep the scores off because we never tried to (happy with my kids' scores), tho I have read of some other kids at other schools who have had their schools not include the scores on their transcripts.</p>