Schools implement SAT Score Choice
Alexandria Phillips
Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: News
As of spring 2009, students taking the SAT and SAT II Subject tests will have the choice to send either their collective scores from one specific test date or of sending only the top scores to colleges that they apply to, according to collegeboard.com.
The new program, Score Choice, will be available to students entering colleges and universities in 2010. However, if students do not opt to send the scores from one specific test date, then all scores will be sent.
"You should have control of the process to say 'gosh that Saturday I didn't feel well, so I'm not going to send those scores. But the November scores that I took I'm going to send, because I know that is the type of score profile that Drexel or any other university is looking for,'" Joan McDonald, vice president for Enrollment Management, said
However, universities such as Yale, Stanford and Cornell will not allow prospective students to opt to use Score Choice; they will be required to send all SAT and SAT Subject tests when applying to the respective schools, according to an article in the Yale Daily News.
Drexel University, along with Harvard university and the University of Chicago will allow prospective students to send either specific test date scores or their scores from all of the tests taken.
"You ask the question when you have new initiatives like this-who really controls the admissions process? We hope it's the students," Joan McDonald, vice president for Enrollment Management, said
"Score Choice will help defuse some of the pressure and give students a sense that not everything is riding on the tests, which really is the case," William Fitzsimmons, Harvard College dean of admissions told The New York Times.
LaSalle university is allowing prospective students to send scores from one specific test whereas Northeastern university asks prospective students to send all scores.
According to College Board, this program was created both to give students a better experience when taking the SATs and to reduce stress.
"The college admissions process is stressful enough for students. We don't need to make it more stressful," McDonald said.
In recent years, Drexel University placed less importance on standardized testing and more on an applying student's G.P.A.
According to McDonald, 35 to 40 percent of a prospective student's admittance is based on SAT scores.
"We look at the best score. So if you have a sitting where you have a 620 in math one day and the next time you got a 580, we would look at the 620," McDonald said.
ACT has offered a similar program like Score Choice to students taking the test for the past few years.
"And that's part of the criticism of College Board, is that they are just doing it [offering Score Choice to students] to just get more business," McDonald said. "If you have Score Choice you may sit for the exam more times, because you know there is no penalty."
The new program, Score Choice, will be available to students entering colleges and universities in 2010. However, if students do not opt to send the scores from one specific test date, then all scores will be sent.
"You should have control of the process to say 'gosh that Saturday I didn't feel well, so I'm not going to send those scores. But the November scores that I took I'm going to send, because I know that is the type of score profile that Drexel or any other university is looking for,'" Joan McDonald, vice president for Enrollment Management, said
However, universities such as Yale, Stanford and Cornell will not allow prospective students to opt to use Score Choice; they will be required to send all SAT and SAT Subject tests when applying to the respective schools, according to an article in the Yale Daily News.
Drexel University, along with Harvard university and the University of Chicago will allow prospective students to send either specific test date scores or their scores from all of the tests taken.
"You ask the question when you have new initiatives like this-who really controls the admissions process? We hope it's the students," Joan McDonald, vice president for Enrollment Management, said
"Score Choice will help defuse some of the pressure and give students a sense that not everything is riding on the tests, which really is the case," William Fitzsimmons, Harvard College dean of admissions told The New York Times.
LaSalle university is allowing prospective students to send scores from one specific test whereas Northeastern university asks prospective students to send all scores.
According to College Board, this program was created both to give students a better experience when taking the SATs and to reduce stress.
"The college admissions process is stressful enough for students. We don't need to make it more stressful," McDonald said.
In recent years, Drexel University placed less importance on standardized testing and more on an applying student's G.P.A.
According to McDonald, 35 to 40 percent of a prospective student's admittance is based on SAT scores.
"We look at the best score. So if you have a sitting where you have a 620 in math one day and the next time you got a 580, we would look at the 620," McDonald said.
ACT has offered a similar program like Score Choice to students taking the test for the past few years.
"And that's part of the criticism of College Board, is that they are just doing it [offering Score Choice to students] to just get more business," McDonald said. "If you have Score Choice you may sit for the exam more times, because you know there is no penalty."
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