Paying to send SAT scores=necessary?

intparent
Sun, 09 Dec 2012 12:28:50 +0000

The short answer is no. Colleges require official scores sent from College Board. If you didn’t have a solid list of colleges before taking the tests that you could use for the free scores (and also if you don’t care about taking advantage of score choice), then you need to pay. At least make sure you are done with all your tests (including subject tests) before sending them so you only have to send scores once.

Many schools also have fees associated with making an application. What we have done is send the scores for all the colleges with apps due by 1/2/12. For all the apps due later than that, we have waited to pay to send the scores. My D has 2 EA apps out, and if the better school comes through, I am guessing she won’t end up applying to all 10 schools on her list. So we are waiting to spend the money on sending scores until EA replies are in. That said, it does take about 3 weeks for scores to be sent and received in my experience. So we are taking that lead time into account when judging when/where to send scores.