Some very selective colleges don’t use score choice. Why not?

There are potentially two issues that the colleges are looking at when they request all scores be sent. One is the simply issue of how many times have you taken the SAT. Taking the SAT two or three times is not a problem. But if you are taking the test more than that the question arises of whether you don’t have better things to do than take the SAT.

The second potential issue that the college may look at is a large disparity in the test scores. While colleges understand that the may be differences in the test scores, a large disparity in scores may point to something else such as cheating.

If you have a large disparity in SAT test scores and the college requires that all test scores be sent, you may wish to explain what happened when you received the lower score.

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I had a parent ask me today whether they needed to disclose all test scores to a college that doesn’t use score choice. The quick answer is you should but why?

The argument for submitting all scores for a college that does not use score choice is that you need to provide the information that the college requests.  The parent’s real question was that if the student doesn’t submit all of their scores, how will the college know?

The parent is correct that if you don’t submit a test score the college will probably never know. However, there are ways that colleges may find out. Some may be by accident such as the test company mistakenly providing more than the scores you intended. More likely, is that someone who knows what you did rats you out.

This happens on occasion when a student is applying to a competitive college where others they know are also applying. To get a competitive advantage some students will use any advantage they can to try to get admitted. This includes contacting the college with any information that you may not have followed all of the rules.

If the college finds out that you did not submit all scores despite their instructions to do so, they may very well no longer consider your application. Basically, you can’t lie to the college without consequences if they find out.

Rarely is it a problem to submit all test scores. If the college requests all scores, give it to them. That way you won’t have to worry about one of your competitors trying to eliminate you as an applicant.

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Score choice is an option that allows a student to decide which SAT scores to send to colleges when applying for admissions.

Sounds simple enough. If you have one strong SAT score and one weaker score you only need to have the stronger score sent. But does it matter?

Colleges really do want to view you in the strongest light. If you send a stronger SAT score and a weaker score, virtually every college will look at your strongest score and ignore your weaker score. So sending a weaker score is not a problem.

Where this really comes into play is with colleges that do not accept score choice and ask that all scores be sent to the college. This is primarily done by colleges that are very selective.

When applying to colleges, you need to understand whether the colleges require all test scores or whether they accept score choice.

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Now is a good time for juniors to start thinking about standardized testing. So what do you need to think about?

First, what test are you going to take? SAT or ACT? All colleges will accept either test for admissions. Try a practice test of each to see which one you do better on and which one you feel more comfortable with.

Second, once you have determined which test you will focus on, then it is time to take some practice tests. Get the official test book for the SAT (The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd Ed) or the official book for the ACT (The Real ACT Prep Guide).  Take practice tests to get used to the types of questions being asked.

Three, determine when you will take the actual tests. I generally recommend that students take whichever test twice during the late winter and spring of junior year. All testing should be completed by June of junior year. This can take some planning, particularly if you are taking the SAT and SAT subject tests because you can not take subject tests and the regular SAT on the same date. This is where early planning really pays off.

Four, register for the test dates early so you don’t run into problems such as having your local test center be completely booked.

There you go. Four quick steps to testing success.

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Last week the Inblog at the Princeton Review started a series of posts on ACT test strategies.  There are two posts over there already and I strongly recommend that everyone thinking about taking the ACT head over there to see the recommended strategies.

The first post was on what they call ACT triage. Basically, these are suggestions for making sure that you complete as much of the ACT as efficiently as possible.

The second post discusses the process of elimination and guessing.  This post discusses why you should never leave a question unanswered on the ACT and shows you how to intelligently guess your way to a higher score.

If you have taken a Princeton Review prep course these techniques should not be new to you. But, if you are working on self prep for the ACT, there is some great information in these posts.

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A parent recently asked me how a student could keep an SAT score that the student received in 7th grade.

The College Board’s policy is to destroy SAT scores from students who took the test before 9th grade. To keep a score from an SAT test that a student takes before 9th grade, the family will need to contact the College Board soon after the test and request that the College Board keep the score active and not discard the score.  This is a simple process but since the request must be made by a certain date,  parents should be aware that time is of the essence.

You might ask why a student would want to keep an SAT score taken before 9th grade.  Some students take the SAT early to qualify for talent identification programs such as the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins and Midwest Talent Search at Northwestern.  Some of these students score well enough at this age that they want to keep the score for college admissions purposes in case they don’t do as well in the future.

In my experience this is not a worry. If a student scores well enough on the SAT before 9th grade that they want to keep the score, the student is very likely to do as well, or better, when they are in high school.  Moreover, colleges prefer to see more recent scores than one that is 4 or 5 years old.

If you got an 800 or other very high score before 9th grade, go ahead and keep the score for possible use in superscoring. But the chances are, you will be able to duplicate that result once you get to high school.

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You know what drives me crazy?  Looking at a high school parking lot full of cars on a Saturday morning in the fall when the SAT or ACT is being given.  Why don’t I like to see this?

Taking the SAT in the fall of senior year should be a last ditch effort at improving your score. And if that is why you are taking a fall SAT, more power to you. I hope your score improves. Unfortunately, most of the people taking the SAT in the fall are doing so for the first time.

If you don’t know what you SAT score is going to be, you are not able to put together a reasonable list of colleges. Without a list of colleges you can’t really get started applying. Which means that you are starting to apply after you get your scores, at the earliest, in late October.

This is the time I like to see my students finishing or at least being well through the application process at most colleges. When students don’t have a college list until late October they tend to rush through the process. And rushing through the college application essays is not a good idea.

I work with some of the brightest students in the country and many of them struggle coming up with an essay topic and writing their essays. That is why we start the essay writing process in early summer. With time, the students can reflect on who they are, what they wish to write about, and look at variations on their essays. When a student is rushed in the fall, much of this process is lost.

Another problem with a late test date is the option of applying early to a college may be lost because you just don’t know which college is the best option. Do you really know enough about a college to apply early decision at the last minute. Most likely, no.

The final major problem of waiting until fall to take the SAT is the question of what happens if the day does not go well. What happens if you get sick? What if you just have a bad day and don’t do well on the test?  What is you freak out because it is your first time taking the test?

If your October test does not go well then you are looking at the November test. Now you don’t know what your appropriate colleges are going to be until close to December. Early decision? Nope. Early Action? Probably not.

Waiting to test until fall senior year often results in lost options. Colleges that may have been a good choice for you just don’t work out because you don’t know what are the best colleges without a test score.

Do yourself a favor and don’t wait until fall senior year to take the SAT. Getting into the right college for your needs is challenging enough without making it more difficult than you have to.

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Many of the most selective colleges require that students submit SAT Subject Tests as part of the application process. But planning for the SAT Subject Tests requires some thought.

Subject tests should generally be taken after you have finished the highest level classwork related to that test.  While that is nice in theory, the reality is that you need to have these tests taken by fall of senior year which means that you need to have taken the classes by end of junior year.

You also don’t want to wait too long to take the test after you have the course work so late spring of junior year makes sense. Maybe.

The problem with testing the late spring of junior year is that this is the same time that you should have completed your SAT and most students will also have a number of AP tests to take at this time.

To further complicate the matter, you can not take a regular SAT and the SAT Subject Tests on the same test date. So, you are left with three SAT test dates between March and June of your junior year and you need one date for the SAT and one for the SAT Subject Tests. You can take the third date for a second SAT but that makes for a very busy spring.

And if this all isn’t starting to concern you, if you take three Subject Tests on a test date but are concerned that one of them didn’t go well, you can’t just cancel the test that didn’t go well. You either keep all of the tests from that test date or you cancel all of the tests from that date.

Ideally, you will get your SAT Subject Tests done before spring of junior year so that you don’t need to worry about them at that time.  If you can get your courses taken early then  you can take the Subject Tests early. This takes careful planning throughout your high school career.

Help with this type of planning is a common reason why families hire admission consultants.  Do you need help?

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1. Get the official SAT Study Guide from the College Board. This book contains 10 actual old SAT tests.

2. Review the book.

3. Take a practice test.

4. Review your answers to the test paying particular attention to the wrong answers.

5. Try to understand the concept behind the question you got wrong.Although the questions on the SAT change from test to test, the concepts stay the same. If you can understand the concepts that you got wrong, you are much more likely to correctly answer those types of questions on the next test.

6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 several times.

My experience has been that this approach to preparing for the SAT is often more successful than standard test prep. If you do need help understanding some of these concepts, then hiring a tutor may be appropriate to address the specific concepts that you are struggling with.

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I told you last week that you should take the SAT in the spring of your junior year. So when is the best time to prepare for the SAT?

The summer before junior year is the best time because you are likely to have more time to spend on the preparation than during the school year. Yes, I know you are busy and also want to have some time to relax in the summer. No problem. You don’t need to devote 40 hours a week to SAT prep but you do need to spend some time.

However, don’t prepare during the summer and then forget about the SAT until you take the test. Continue practicing through fall of junior year so that you are at your best when you actually take the SAT.

Next week I will tell you the best way to prepare for the SAT.

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