<p>One of my son’s classmates took the October 1 SAT. He had taken the test previously and was pleasantly surprised by how high his Writing score was; over 700 I believe. So when he took it this time he just sat out the the Writing portion. Literally sat there and rested so he would have more energy for the other two tests. </p>
<p>Now instead of getting his scores he got a notice that his score was being reviewed. </p>
<p>Has anyone heard of this happening before? Did he violate some rules by not trying at all?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of this happening before, then again I’ve never heard of anyone sleeping through the test. </p>
<p>I’m taking the Nov 2011 SAT, but I’m only working for my CR and Math score. My writing score was also exceptionally high so I’m not studying for that section. However I’m still going to to do it, just not exert myself too much. </p>
<p>I think the kid was being complacent it wouldn’t have hurt to answer the questions.</p>
<p>So I wanted him to simply take math, since there is superscoring, and try to raise his math a few points.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with what the kid did, although I would have probably contacted the testing agency before I pursued that strategy.</p>
<p>Why should my son take CR and writing over again?</p>
<p>Not every school superscores, so if they saw a zero, I think they would know what the kid was trying to do, but if the kid, who has an 800 takes the test for real, and this time gets a 690, he might be hurting himself. Especially for schools that don’t superscore.</p>
<p>No, he’s not breaking any rules. I think the review is being conducted to make sure there wasn’t any scanning error (after all, there must have been a significant drop in scores from prior test to October 2011). He should be OK.</p>
<p>I would like to point out that I (as well as some other experienced CC members) am against such a strategy. Not every college super-scores. There’s absolutely no risk in legitimately trying on the other 2 sections. I find the “I’m gonna sit these out to rest” excuse to be utterly ridiculous.</p>
<p>Another thing they might have a problem with is that if the student improves his score in other section by a good margin, CB might be worried about him using the extra time he did not use to do the blank session and put more time in the section that he did not do well before. They can cancel his score for a suspicion of cheating.</p>
<p>Invalid Scores. ETS may also cancel scores if it judges that there is substantial evidence that they are invalid for any other reason. Evidence of invalid scores may include, without limitation: plagiarism, discrepant handwriting, unusual answer patterns, inconsistent performance on different parts of the test,…</p>
<p>I stop here stressing the very last item of this section. Also not doing writing section will be a big red flag because now they have no handwriting sample to compare with his previous one.</p>
<p>Parents and guardians are not allowed to escort their children to the testing rooms.
Students may be tested in the same room as test-takers of all grades and ages.
Test-takers are not released early for any reasons other than sudden illness or dismissal for infractions.
Test-takers are not allowed to skip sections of the test. Doing so could result in score cancellation, delays, or both.</p>
<p>Copied it from the link given above. I think the 4th point is clear enough :D</p>
<p>What else is s/he going to do? Sleep? Doodle? Doing anything else would constitute a violation of testing rules. As a parent, you’ve paid for the entire test. Have your kid attempt the other sections. As you said, there’s superscoring, so there’s absolutely zero risk for him/her to do the rest of the test.</p>
<p>On the ACT, no composite score or any score is calculated if any section is left completely blank. I can see the SAT following this policy.</p>
<p>And why just sit there? Does it really take such a toll on your child’s mind, attempting the writing section, that he is incapable of doing well on the other sections? Lame excuse. Not only may your score be cancelled, but I would bet money that colleges, particularly top schools, will find that to be detrimental to the application and may play a significant role if your son is rejected. Seeing a score report with say, 780, 760, 320 won’t look good in the eyes of adcoms who get score reports.</p>
<p>And if your kid just got over 700, then there is definite room for improvement lolol.</p>