<p>The argument here seems to be that colleges have to be exam-obsessed to detect students who they think are exam-obsessed. </p>
<p>I think colleges have more important things to look at when reviewing admission files.</p>
<p>vicariousparent, im all for score choice, but i dont quite agree with your verdicts on the two situations. especially the bio one- the whole point of the sat test and subject tests is to measure all students against the same standard. an A here does not mean an A there. colleges have every right to know the rigor of certain classes.
plus, a bio major should probably do pretty well on the bio test, lol</p>
<p>To paraphrase the Yale rep who was quoted somewhere on this forum, colleges are more exam-obsessed than they want to admit but less exam-obsessed than most people on C.C. think.</p>
<p>I'm just curious..what does the changing in SAT score impact you? if u did back before and few months later you did better, what's the problem w/ that?</p>
<p>
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I could definitely see a school like Wash U who keeps all their stuff under wraps to do something like this...
[/quote]
That's a risk they might not want to take. You know...all these college books written by ex-adcoms. I just bougt one written by former adcoms from 9 elite universities... Penn, Columbia, Holy Cross, NYU, Georgetown, Northwestern, Brandeis, Yale and MIT... and we have this lady from Dartmouth... You never know, someone from WUSTL may decide to write a book...</p>
<p>I still don't understand how schools opting out of Score Choice can enforce it ... other than relying on the good conscience of the applicant. For example, I can choose to report only my best two SAT's and my best two SAT subjects. These will be sent on a single report. How does the college know whether I'm being honest?</p>
<p>"Students can send any or all scores to a college on a single report—it will not cost more to send one, multiple, or all test scores." collegeboard</p>
<p>Just wondering, entirely hypothetically:</p>
<p>If someone were to create a new CB account, how could CB or colleges ever find out? </p>
<p>I'm already done with my SATs, no personal interest in here :)</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <blockquote> <p>I still don't understand how schools opting out of Score Choice can enforce it>>></p> </blockquote> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Most likely collegeboard will only send entire transcripts to those schools. If you try to send selected scores the website will tell you that score choice is not accepted by that college.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most likely collegeboard will only send entire transcripts to those schools. If you try to send selected scores the website will tell you that score choice is not accepted by that college.
[/quote]
If only a handful of schools opt out of score choice, do you think collegeboard will yield to their demand. That will basically kill score choice.</p>
<p>This discussion brings to my mind a question that has occurred to me before: don't you think that most admissions decisions are based on broad strokes rather than subtle differences between students? That is, highest scores, grades, impressive ECs, etc., make the most difference. How often could it really be that a subtle impression based on number of times the test was taken makes a difference? I suppose it could be one of a number of things that might create an impression, but here on CC there's always this assumption that every decision is on a knife edge, and that one typo, or one cool recommendation, or one B in 9th grade PE, will make the difference.</p>
<p>Every time the question about "how many times" comes up at every info session I have attended, the answer is that the schools do not care. I am not talking about tier I schools though. Some schools have said that some students make standardized test taking an EC. Still, nobody seems to care if one takes it once, or 6+ times.</p>
<p>BTW, PE is usually taken out when considering gpas for admissions, as is basket weaving. I know, hunt, that you were point.</p>
<p>Hunt, I posted in response to your post, even though my post sits above yours. This is the second time this happened to me today. Oh well.</p>
<p>CB has SS#, birthday and name. I don't see how you could make more than one account. What I find annoying is that now one will presumably have to look up the rules for each college in order to figure out what you are supposed to send. It was a lot simpler to just check off the colleges and send everything. I have to say this is not an issue I'm going to spend a lot of time worrying about - my inclination is to just send all the scores unless there is an unequivocal best score.</p>
<p>Schools may not care how many times you take the SAT, but they do say that they think there are diminishing returns after 3 times. And I did hear the Yale rep say that if she saw someone who'd taken the SAT gazillions of times she might start wondering why they didn't have better things to do on Saturday mornings. The way I understood her, it's not that your scores would be dismissed, but they might be on the lookout for other signs of OCD behavior or excessive grade grubbing.</p>
<p>I doubt that a college would reject a student solely because s/he took the SAT six times. However, if that information supports other impressions given in the application -- i.e., that the student is a perfectionist, grade grubber, etc., then it could be additional information used in making a decision. </p>
<p>What amused me about the Newsweek article was this sentence:</p>
<p>
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"Laurence Bunin, general manager of the SAT, referred to "less kids taking SAT," thereby "threatening the viability of the program itself."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The correct phrase is "fewer kids" not "less kids." Wonder what Bunin's writing score would be.</p>
<p>mathmom, I've written to Harvard asking about its one online statement about "diminishing returns." I've always read that as meaning, which is true, that it's rare for scores to take a big jump up on third or subsequent tests. </p>
<p>The other interpretation you mention, as do some other participants here on CC, is that the college is saying "Even if your scores from the third or subsequent test go up a lot, we will discount that score increase." I think that interpretation is verbally possible, but I have asked Harvard to clarify the issue, because the Harvard viewbook, which is carefully revised every year, has long said, </p>
<p>From the Harvard admission office: "If you submit more than one set of scores for any of the required tests, the Admissions Committee considers only your best scores—even if your strongest SAT Subject Tests or portions of the SAT Reasoning Test were taken on different dates."</p>
<p>^^ Thanks tokenadult for that query. The term "diminishing returns" is ambiguous, and perhaps intentionally so? Also, I read somewhere (perhaps on the Yale site) that while the general committee sees the superscore, they do note whether that is a superscore or a single-sitting score. And that all the information is available if a committee member asks.</p>
<p>A typical process--I don't know how universal it is--is for a college application file to be attached to a summary sheet listing the most salient information, usually filled in by clerical staff at the college admission office. At many colleges, the summary sheet just lists best test scores (by "superscoring" or by single-sitting, as college policy decides). But somewhere deeper in the file, the full record of test scores is shown for anyone who cares. I think I've made abundantly clear :) that I personally don't worry about this, and I wish everyone else well in getting the scores they think they need, participating in extracurricular activities that they enjoy, and having great success in college applications.</p>
<p>Well my kid is not looking at schools like Yale, but many schools that he is looking at have merit aid. Merit aid can be tied to SAT or ACT scores. It could be beneficial to sit for these tests several times for that reason. This does not indicate OCD! Frankly, I don't know how a school could tell how many times you took the ACTs. Each score report per date is a seperate fee in order to send. I really do not think schools will begin requiring scores from all seatings. Sit 3x and mutliply that by 10 schools, excluding the app. fee, css profile fee, you are looking at $270 (just for ACT scores). That does not even include SAT II or SAT scores.</p>
<p>I think Harvard (and Yale) are telling the truth that they look at the highest score. As far as I know the "diminishing returns" is just a recommendation to students not to obsess over improving SAT scores by tiny increments. I am a firm believer that there is a good enough score for Harvard and it's silly to go crazy trying to improve a score. I don't think anyone gets rejected because they got a 750 instead of a 780. Two or three times taking a test is plenty.</p>
<p>Haven't read this entire thread, so please forgive me if this Q is repetitive:</p>
<p>Why do colleges feel they need different policies for SATs vs. ACTs? They have been fine for years accepting Score Choice for ACTs.</p>
<p>^because they can report separate score for M/CR/W for the rankings using SAT's. ACT's are generally not used in USNWR rankings (not sure about other ranking companies.)</p>
<p>So, it behooves the colleges to take the highest individual scores from each section of the SAT.</p>