<p>Noob question: Why does commonapp have us self-report ACT/SAT scores when don’t we have to get ACT/Collegeboard to send them the official score reports?</p>
<p>I don’t have a certain answer but here’s my guess:</p>
<p>Admissions officers probably only read the Common App for that portion, and their systems probably have a way of verifying that the scores entered on the Common App exactly match those reported by the CollegeBoard of ACT. And if one makes a mistake, that just proves to a college that the student is careless. And if one reports a sore higher than what the CollegeBoard/ACT sends, then it proves the student has lied.</p>
<p>Good guess, ivyhopeful13–but not correct…</p>
<p>Colleges ask students to self-report test scores for two reasons First, in cases where an application is complete except for official test scores, the self-reported scores allow colleges to do a preliminary read. They will never make a final decision based on self-reported scores, but having that info lets them move forward with their initial evaluation.</p>
<p>Second, self-reported scores (and academic information) can help colleges target students who might be eligible for certain programs (scholarships, honors programs, etc.).</p>
<p>Again, it’s important to restate that colleges are NOT making decisions based on self-reported information–and they are definitely not trying to play “gotcha!” games.</p>
<p>@CommonApp1975 - can you just pick and choose which scores to report, or is it misleading/dishonest not to self-report ALL scores?</p>
<p>To the last question: different schools have different policies. For example, when you go to send your SAT scores to, say, Columbia University, all of the Score Choice options will be grayed out because Columbia has told College Board they require all scores to be sent.</p>
<p>Others will allow you to pick and choose which scores to send, but even most of them will encourage you to send all of them. And, really, when they say they only consider the highest scores, I’m pretty sure they mean that (why would they say so otherwise?), so don’t sweat it. </p>
<p>Besides: on the Common App, when you’re self-reporting, they only ask for the highest individual scores (eg. highest ACT Science subscore, highest SAT CR score, etc.).</p>
<p>I, too, believe that when colleges say they look at only your highest scores that they do so.</p>
<p>The issue is more relevant for AP scores. If, for example, I got a 2, a 3 and two 5s, I might not want to report at least the 2 (and maybe the 3). If I don’t self-report some or all of the AP scores, the admission decision would be made without those scores, which in the example would help me.</p>
<p>But am I misleading Admissions by not reporting all of my AP scores?</p>
<p>I think there’s actually a thread or two going on right now that addresses the same thing, and I’ve gotten a mixed sentiment from both. Some say it doesn’t matter if you don’t self-report not-as-good scores (2s and 3s), others say it is misleading adcoms will look at the app funny. Here are the threads - maybe read and see if you can glean your own conclusion. I’m still just as torn as you are. =/</p>
<p>[Submitting</a> AP Scores on Common App](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1368405-submitting-ap-scores-common-app.html]Submitting”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1368405-submitting-ap-scores-common-app.html)</p>
<p>[Test</a> Scores](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1378281-test-scores.html]Test”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/1378281-test-scores.html)</p>