A friend of mine told me the following, and quite frankly it’s gotten me concerned over what SAT scores to send: apparently, he phoned Harvard on Thursday 27 Oct '16 to ask whether they superscore or not. The answer was a concise “no.” When he checked their website on the same day, under the heading “Does Harvard Superscore Test Results”, the website claims that
“We will evaluate your application noting the highest test scores in each section across test dates for the SAT and your strongest sitting for the ACT. We take into account your educational background when reviewing your scores.”
The website did not explicitly say that Harvard doesn’t superscore, but it is so easy to jump to the conclusion based solely on the website’s info that Harvard do indeed superscore. Does anyone know what the difference between what’s described on the website and superscoring is? Also, how will the “noting” of the “highest test scores in each section across test dates…” be used to evaluate apps, if it is not to produce an overall composite “superscore”?
You are in the realm of a difference in semantics. There are colleges that use your highest section scores to determine admission but refuse to call what they do superscoring because they may not formally recalculate a new composite score and refuse to use the term “superscoring,” which is a term created not by colleges but by the masses who have applied to colleges and the organizations that promote services to improve your scores. Harvard’s cryptic message likely amounts to that. Harvard is, in fact, the master of incomprensible and contradictory, bureaucratic speak. For example, it says that it “normally requires” two SAT subject tests, but then states “you may apply without them if you prefer to have your application considered without them,” https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/application-process/application-requirements.
@drusba ^ That makes much more sense. I was initially suspecting a scenario similar to that of your answer too, just needed an extra kick of confirmation. Would a single high score in one test outweigh an equally high total score that’s comprised of highest section scores “considered/noted” over multiple tests?