Schools will generally take the best score from multiple tests, some even “superscore” which is taking the best section scores from different tests to create the highest possible aggregate score.
Absolutely schools will take the fall scores. Plenty of time to get them sent.
@theaterwork Your child can still get admitted into many MT/Theater programs, even top notch programs, if their SAT/ACT scores are not optimal. And some schools, such as Ithaca, Juilliard, and Montclair, and others, are test optional…meaning they don’t even require testing for admission. However it is true that higher merit scholarships are offered to those who submit good test scores. Here is a link to schools that are test optional…you may be quite surprised. http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
Every schools website has information on avg test scores for admitted students. They also have exact scores for what is needed for merit usually listing each scholarship with a score and GPA. In addition you can simply call or email your admission rep and ask. Depends if you are looking at academic programs. Also know which test your child would do better on. If you are not sure, take each once and see and then take only the one she scores better on a second time.
Yes I have some info on scores from the schools she is looking at already & The ACT info listed is still relevant but the SAT isn’t cause the SAT is new starting in March so the scoring is completely different. Have to wait till they adjust to the new test and scoring system for SAT. My D is a junior so still time for that. Assuming the schools will have to adjust the info on SAT scores they want to see for scholarships & merit money soon however because seniors taking the SAT in March (maybe to get a better score etc ) will need to know that info.
@claire74 - Can you help me understand how the PSAT/NMSQT scores relate to the SAT? My daughter got an 1100 — - 600 Evidence Based Reading and Writing; 500 Math. It says “your score shows how you would have scored that day on the SAT” but I can’t find anywhere online to explain more. Does that mean she would have gotten a 1100 on the new SAT? and is that a decent score? (Sorry, this is all new to me!!!)
@DrowsyChaperone, i don’t know how they compare. My kids only did ACT. I’m sure there is someone else who knows more.
@DrowsyChaperone Yes, that’s what they try to do. They convert the raw scores of every test and through “statistical analysis” attempt to make an 1100 on any given test any given day represent the same abilities. That said, my daughters SAT scores were much better than her PSAT but she studied for the SAT. She also planned and took the SAT for her final time in June of her junior year. We figured it was the most show-free time and she could qualify for early merit money from schools that have early or rolling decision. I think it helped ease our stress a bit.
@DrowsyChaperone I was going to attach a link to something that I think explains it pretty well but it’s a blog and I don’t think links to other blogs are allowed in cc.
Highlights from it include:
Apart from changes in content and structure, the new PSAT will use a different scoring system than the one used in previous years. This new scale will correspond with, though not match exactly, the scale for the new SAT.
The new SAT will be scored between 800 and 1600. The PSAT scale is shifted slightly lower to account for the fact that it’s a slightly easier test than the SAT. On the PSAT for each section, you could get a minimum scaled score of 160 and a maximum of 760. (Thus the maximum combined score is a 1520). The PSAT scale is shifted slightly lower to account for the fact that it’s a slightly easier test than the SAT.
While a 1520 on the PSAT doesn’t necessarily equate to a 1600 on the SAT, it still suggests you’ll get a very strong score.
Hope this helps.
@DrowsyChaperone it also says on the details of the PSAT score report, the average scores for other kids taking the test, so there is an average overall score and average scores for each of the two parts. That helped me see what the average score is for this new group taking the test. I think it said the average overall score was like in the 980’s.
One D was able to score higher on SAT math than on ACT math. (ACT math tends to require more speed.) However, D got at 650 in Verbal on SAT vs. a 35 in English on the ACT in her first sitting. Since the ACT score was substantially higher, it paid to send both test scores. So I do think there is value in actually taking both the ACT and SAT for some students.
@DrowsyChaperone, They are still norming the new SAT. This means that they are working to configure it to a bell-shaped curve and to make it highly predictable so that a test taken one month is comparable to a test taken two months later. All standardized tests are designed to produce a bell shaped curve, so that the scores are evenly distributed along it. To compare, a regular classroom test doesn’t have to produce a bell shaped curve: Everyone can get a 100% if they all study hard & understand what’s being tested. A standardized test won’t do that–it is deliberately designed to distribute the scores. It takes a lot of time to design a test to reliably do that.
The PSATs were the first test to be in the new SAT format. The new SAT format is very different from the old in all ways. Not just in the score range (up to 1600 starting in March) but in what is being tested and how it is being asked. Because it’s still very new and College Board (in my opinion) raced to get this out under pressure from Pearson’s PARCC testing and competition from ACT, the test hasn’t undergone significant field testing which would help the test be normed to a bell shaped curve. This is why (in my opinion) the PSAT took so long to be scored.
The reason this is significant is that we can’t really make accurate predictions as to how well the student will do in the new SAT based on the PSAT this year. It’s not just that the score range is different–it’s that the test is still in flux. A 620 in the Math PSAT was 93 percentile, a far higher percentile than in the old PSAT. But we can’t know how that will apply to the SAT coming out in March because we still don’t know how the test will continue to adjust. For now I’d look more at percentiles as opposed to raw score to get a sense of where you are. But again, the test is still in development.
I personally would use the PSAT scores as a rough, general predictor of the new SAT. Look closely at the results and see where you struggled. Target these areas. And practice.
I teach AP- where the college board has also been making significant revisions in the last couple years (last year APUSH, this year Euro) and they are building the plane while flying it… A constant stream of changes. I can only imagine what the PSAT/SAT looks like…
My D really didn’t want to take the ACT because of the Science component. She did SAT prep, took the test a couple times, and got a good score, but I didn’t think it really reflected who she was as a student. She felt like she was done, but I talked her into trying the ACT since she thought her SAT scores were solid. She ended up doing really well on the ACT, and it resulted in greater merit scholarships. It’s definitely worth trying both!
Although the science section of the ACT would appear to be testing one’s prior science knowledge, it doesn’t. It functions much more like a reading comprehension test, except that the information is presented in charts and graphs, etc.
I’m not encouaging this, but neither of our kids were willing to prepare or practice for these tests in any way, yet they survived. Just wanted to mention this so if others have similarly unwilling teens you don’t abandon all hope. 
@MomCares that is such a relief to hear as my D is balking at a prep class although if I make her go she will go of course. I have been told though that since she did very well on the PSAT reading/ writing section and we would only be concentrating on improving the math score, that sometimes the math score gets very little increase after practice/prep. I guess the thinking is at this point it’s hard to increase your math score if you just aren’t good at math and don’t get a lot of the algebraic questions etc which she doesn’t. I mean you can’t suck up years of math deficit in a prep class.
@theaterwork … there was a large score increase w/ both of my kids from the beginning of junior year to the beginning of senior year. Most of their friends who tested junior & senior year experienced the same result.
The one and only thing I did to try to help them, since they were unwilling to prepare, was to research whether and when they should guess on the test, and I drilled that into them as I drove them to take it.
They did each take both the SAT and ACT, and both preferred (perhaps too strong word a word) the ACT, but they had freinds who favored the SAT so, as has been said, it’s worth trying both.
Prep classes are not really about learning subject matter as much as it is learning how to take the tests – they give good insights into how the questions are formulated, when to guess and when to leave an answer blank, how to manage your time, etc… All of this information is online and in various resource books as well if they don’t want to take a class. But taking practice tests, however you choose to do it, does help familiarize your student with the test structure and gives them practice in answering those types of questions. But prep classes are not necessary for everyone, especially if your child has the scores they desire already. The main reason to get higher scores is to improve the amount of academic scholarship you are eligible for.