<p>They claim to want to have more context of the applicant, but dosen’t this only create false context since some applicants can just cancel their scores after they take it?</p>
<p>In theory, I suppose one could take the SAT an unlimited number of times, canceling all but one test, and Yale would never know that an applicant was “test obsessed.” But, I guess Yale Admissions feels that is not something many students would do.</p>
<p>SAT test scores can only be cancelled at the test center or no later than midnight of the Wednesday after the test. At that point, the student would not know their SAT scores.</p>
<p>I think the OP’s point was that a student (albeit a crazy one) could take the SAT test multiple times for practice always canceling by midnight on the Wednesday after the test and Admissions would never know about it. Why someone would go through the trouble is beyond me but, in theory, I guess it is possible. They would never know how they did though.</p>
<p>The window to cancel the score is just a few days (Wed. after the test date) and the score is not released yet. So by the time a student see a bad score, it is already too late to cancel it. I am not sure how useful a practice it would be if it was never scored :-). The bottomline is that by asking for all SAT scores, Yale could identify the obssessed and compulsive test takers ;-).</p>
<p>The kind of person who would do such a foolish course of events, hopefully, will be flagged in other areas of his/her application. What a nutcase.</p>
<p>Nutcase or not, isn’t that why CC kids rush to compile Q&A after each test? By the end of the day, they seem to have most questions compiled with answers. They should have a pretty good idea on how they did and cancel the score if it doesn’t look good. I always wonder why CC allows that.</p>
<p>Good point Iglooo. With the CC Q&A answers up it should be possible to accurately estimate your score before the cancellation deadline.</p>
<p>I actually agree with Iglooo; after looking at CC after taking the SAT, I was able to predict my score within a few questions. If I had known that I was going to get a “bad” score, I could have easily canceled the score.</p>
<p>That being said, I think the number of testakers that cancel their scores is very, VERY low and I would be willing to bet that most of them that cancel are for other reasons and/or aren’t legitimate Yale applicants. </p>
<p>Just like T26E4 said, “The kind of person who would do such a foolish course of events, hopefully, will be flagged in other areas of his/her application. What a nutcase.” Well said.</p>
<p>Many Ivy aspirants fret over the diference between a 760 to a 800 and it is often an incorrect answer for 1-2 multiple choice questions. How many of these students are confident enough in themselves to accept a 2300 as a perfectly fine score and how many would be tempted to take SAT multiple times to get an perfect superscore? What Yale is doing makes perfect sense in revealing something quite critical about its applicants.</p>
<p>Is taking the SAT 4 times too much for Yale or other top 20 colleges? What if its like improving a 2100?</p>
<p>And what about taking it every year from freshman to junior?</p>
<p>well, I’m kind of comparing this to Harvard’s policy which makes more sense to me. Numerous testing agencies provide mock SAT’s and students can take like 20 of those before the actual SAT. Thus, Yale won’t know that this kid practically took the SAT 20 times, under testing conditions and such, and will only see one score. </p>
<p>Yale must have some other reason rite, because it just seems pretty illogical.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Where is this idea that colleges look favorably on ‘showing improvement’ in standardized testing coming from? Think about it, which is more impressive, getting a 2300 in one sitting or by superscoring 4 sittings? Note what Y says:</p>
<p>[No</a> choice on scores | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/jan/16/no-choice-on-scores/]No”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2009/jan/16/no-choice-on-scores/)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Is taking the SAT a couple of times going to make a difference in your decision? Likely not. Will taking 4 sittings to reach the 25% level at Y?:</p>
<p>[College</a> Search - Yale University - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>IMO, likely yes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>First, it’s not a good idea. Second, it’s unnecessary. For instance:</p>
<p>Take the PSAT soph year without prep, this will give a good idea of what you need to work on. Prep for the PSAT and take it for real in Oct. of jr year. Prep for the SAT (harder math and the essay), find out your PSAT scores in Dec and put emphasis there as well, and take the SAT in Jan or March. Retest once in March, May or June if necessary. </p>
<p>Of course everyone’s schedule will vary based on how much prep they need and the time they have to do it, but the point is that the PSAT affords excellent practice and feedback and uses essentially the same prep as the SAT. Believe me, colleges don’t want to see you making standardized testing into an EC.</p>
<p>x-posted w/physicsboy</p>
<p>^^^ Agree. See: [Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 2 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/harvarddean-part2/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 2 - The New York Times)</p>
<p>“With the SAT, small differences of 50 or 100 points or more have no significant effect on admissions decisions. Standardized tests are most useful to us in the decision-making process when they are extremely high or low—and even then many other factors come into play.” – William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Harvard Admissions</p>