Having a (Score) Choice in the Matter

January 2nd, 2009

The SAT is an exam riddled with stress — you know it, I know it, and so do the brains behind the operation, a.k.a. the College Board. That’s why they’ve decided to cut the some of your SAT-anxiety with a new policy that lets you pick and choose which of your test scores get sent to colleges. The policy’s name? Score Choice.

The decision is already picking up criticism amongst college admissions officers and high school counselors who say that it was a market-driven move to get students to not only take the SAT over the ACT (its standardized testing competitor) but to take it more often. The College Board, however, argues that Score Choice for the SAT and SAT subject tests will allow students to take a more relaxed approach to testing since their scores won’t affect their college careers unless they choose to release them.

Still, there are other colleges who wish that students would just do away with their standardized testing fears altogether, and realize that college admissions are about more than just one score on one test. These schools — like the University of Southern California, the University of Pennsylvania, and Stanford University — already take a relaxed approach towards standardized testing by combining the highest section scores from a student’s various SATs to arrive at a higher, more beneficial, overall score.

Whatever the College Board’s reasoning may have been, Score Choice is coming to an SAT near you as of this March. But before you decide what you want to do with your scores, make sure to check with the admissions office at your prospective colleges to see how they view the SAT and Score Choice, in particular, during their decision making process.

– Genevieve M. Blaber

Entry Filed under: General, News, Test Prep