SAT and Colleges Disagree On Score Choice
SAT is Allowing Students to Not Disclose SAT Scores
Jan 3, 2009
In March 2009, students taking the SAT will have a choice if they want colleges to see their SAT scores. They may pick and choose which scores they want sent to the college. From 1992 to 2002, students were allowed to take subject tests and hold the results and report only the best test scores to colleges. SAT ended that policy in 2002 because students forgot to release scores and missed deadlines.
Heated SAT Score Choice Debate
While The College Board and students may view this as merely putting your best foot forward, selective colleges do not see things the same way. Colleges want all scores sent out in all testing areas and not allow students the choice to pick and choose which scores are sent to admissions offices. Some colleges are putting their foot down and saying they will not accept scores filtered through Score Choice. The line has been drawn in the sand.
Score Choice Details
Just how does Score Choice work? Students take the SAT test and put a hold on scores being released to the colleges. The student may then select which scores will be sent to colleges. For example, if a student scores a 500 in math but a 700 in other subject tests taken, the student has the option to allow all scores released but the math test. The college will not know how the student scored on the math. The student may then opt to retake the test and use the first test as a trial in math.
SAT Rationale for Score Choice
College entrance exams are a high stakes test. Scholarships and admission are determined in large part by scores on the SAT and ACT. Many colleges have automatic scholarship cutoffs based on SAT and ACT scores, so it isn’t just an admission issue but a scholarship issue. Therefore, students feel much stress prior, during and after taking these tests.
Stress affects how the brain functions during SAT and ACT tests. Students often perform on a lower level on standardized tests than they do in the classroom because of the pressure to perform well on these exams. These tests may give a false reading. The College Board hopes by giving students the choice, they will relax a bit more during testing and score better, knowing they have the option to boot out the blooper. In other words, it is an effort to reduce test anxiety.
Colleges View Score Choice Negatively
Colleges have a blizzard of paperwork, especially large state universities. It is much easier for colleges to make a quick decision for admission when all scores are present. Colleges also see this as students playing games with the admission process.
Many colleges take the best scores from the tests anyway. If a student takes the SAT three times, admission offices will select the top scores from the three tests making Score Choice unnecessary. However, all colleges do not do this.
High Schools View Score Choice Positively
When The College Board surveyed students and high school counselors, an overwhelming majority were in favor of Score Choice.
- Gives students more control
- Reduces test anxiety
- Gives students more chances to improve scores
Score Choice A Business Decision?
The ACT already has a similar scoring release option in place for students and it is becoming a rival for the SAT. In the past, the ACT was taken in the Midwest and South. The SAT was dominant on the East Coast and West Coast. However, recent issues are increasing the popularity of the ACT.
The SAT scandal of improper scoring has left some colleges less likely to demand the SAT. They are accepting the ACT more readily. Some states will allow the ACT to be used as an exit exam because it does test knowledge. The SAT tests "reasoning" and is less likely to reflect what a student has learned. The SAT has been rejected by several states as an exit exam.
Some argue that Score Choice is merely a business ploy to offer the same options offered by the ACT. Others feel it is in place to encourage students to take the test more often increasing revenue for The College Board. Some even argue that it benefits the rich because the wealthy can afford to take the tests as many times as they wish. In reality, both tests have a reduced fee for low-income students.
FairTest.org Dislikes ACT and SAT
FairTest.org would like to see the SAT and ACT totally eliminated. The website lists colleges that no longer demand the SAT and ACT for admission and the list is growing. Approximately 30% of colleges do not require these high stakes tests and have found that the quality of students has not been affected by dropping the tests as mandatory for admission.
ACT and SAT have been traditionally accepted as necessary tests for admission. SAT began in the 1920s to create elite Ivy Leagues and the ACT began in 1959. Are they truly necessary? If selective colleges are finding the pool of students to be of high quality without them, is it merely big business and causing stress for students?
Source: Sara Rimer, The New York Times, nytimes.com, "SAT Changes Policy, Opening Rift With Colleges," December 31, 2008
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