How does a college know if you've used score choice or not? - Page 2

Secret Asian Man · 07-04-2009, 08:17 AM

I'm not sure if they have a way of knowing but right now I'm not going to jeopardize my application by failing to submit all scores if an institution requires me to do so.

sewhappy · 07-04-2009, 09:34 AM

^ of course you must comply with the requests to submit all scores. No question there. But I do think applicants and their families are free to at least form judgements of certain institutions based on their posture on this issue. After all, the customer in all of this is the student.

MissouriGal · 07-04-2009, 10:05 AM

Sewhappy. The College Board is trying to have their cake (rake in more $ from test-takers) and eat it (kowtow to colleges) too.

Actually, I don't think the colleges really care either how many times kids take the tests, they are just posturing to prove they "disapprove" of practices (mulitiple tast-taking) that are said to unfairly advantage higher-income students.

It's all a game. Guess who pays the price?

bclintonk · 07-05-2009, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by broetchen

While I certainly appreciate bclintock's often sage advice, likening the utilization of score choice counter to the college's application rules to
Quote:
cheating, pure and simple, same as falsifying ECs, or counterfeiting a teacher rec, or hacking the school's computer system and doctoring your transcript, or having someone else take the exam for you.
strikes me as overstating things by a long shot.

Wait a minute. I never said that using Score Choice is tantamount to cheating. Not at all. I have no problem with using Score Choice with colleges that allow you to selectively submit test scores. I just said that if a college asks you to submit ALL your test scores and you selectively submit only some test scores, that's cheating. Most colleges seem just fine with Score Choice, and the ACT has used a Score Choice-like policy all along. I have no problem with that. But if they ask you provide certain information and you don't provide all that they explicitly ask for, and then you sign a certification that the information you're providing is complete and accurate, you're cheating. You may or may not get busted, but if you do, you fully deserve to be tossed out of the applicant pool.

ttparent · 07-06-2009, 08:45 AM

Besides Stanford and Yale, has anyone seen any specific request for submitting all the scores on school's websites or application forms from the colleges they are applying to? If College Board guideline says that the schools require all scores but there is no mention of this requirement anywhere else, is it wrong to use score choice?

MrWheezy · 07-06-2009, 09:08 AM

I think the UC's require all scores to be sent and when you send the scores, there is no option for Score Choice when you select that school for the scores to be sent to. I might be wrong though...

But there is a pdf that lists the university who do or do not follow score choice.
http://professionals.collegeboard.co...tices-list.pdf

ttparent · 07-06-2009, 10:45 AM

There is always an option to use Score Choice through College Board even on the schools that say they want all the scores. If you have sent a score lately, you know exactly what I mean.

That pdf is the same as what I referred to as college board guideline, I have looked through pdf for the schools that we are interested in. It is supposedly a survey that College Board has done with each school. My thinking is that this should not be the definitive instruction. It is a document provided by college board with various disclaimer statements about it's accuracy. Each school should state clearly some place within the application forms or process about their policy. For the schools we are interested in, I have looked through their websites and application materials and so far, none of the schools that want all scores in the pdf has any statements on not accepting score choice. Things could change between now and next fall, but so far I wish I hear directly from each school what's their stance.

cjgone · 07-06-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

I see your point, sewhappy, and I understand that you are upset. However, I believe that by requesting a list of all scores, the college also helps the student. Under the new score choice, some students could potentially take the SAT nearly every month. At that point it is not necessarily testing the student's capcity to handle college work, and it becomes a probability game. Their chances of scoring higher are much greater. At the same time, some students who, for whatever reason, are unable to take the test as frequently, are subsequently penalized. So Stanford, Yale, are actually helping your son/daughter.

You don't just get magically lucky and do better. There should be no penalty for taking standarized tests infinitely until reaching 12th.

burry · 07-06-2009, 09:12 PM

The common ap asks for your scores, too. Are you required to supply all of them if the college doesn't insist on it? Also what if one college wants SAT IIs and another doesn't -- can I fill out two different common aps?

fignewton · 07-07-2009, 01:28 PM

@ttparent: I think you're right, and I'd go another step more: all colleges should be clear about what their score policies are (via website, e.g.), and the College Board should use that information at the score report choice point (i.e., if you choose to send a report to college X and X requires all scores, then that's what gets sent; if X only requires whatever you want to send, _then_ you are allowed to choose which scores to send).

It is early in this score choice thing; I imagine there will be more clarity soon (i.e., by crunch time this fall).