Does Score Choice Offer More Choice?
In March 2009, The College Board launched the “Score Choice” program. “Under Score Choice, students can choose their best overall SAT sitting to send to colleges, but they will not be able to mix and match scores from different sittings. (Each sitting includes tests in critical reading, mathematics and writing, with a top score of 800 in each area.)” (NY Times, December 30, 2008)
The debate as to whether Score Choice truly benefits students is yet to be settled. Some argue that Score Choice only adds to the stress that typically surrounds college admissions testing, essentially urging student to take the SAT many times to get their best “single sitting score”. Others suggest that Score Choice alleviates pressure because students feel that if they have a bad testing day, then the college of their choice will never see the scores from that test day.
In this first year of Score Choice, it’s difficult to determine the exact benefits for the student. One important point to keep in mind is that many colleges and universities continue to practice score combining as key to their admissions process; they consider the highest combined scores – from all SATs the students take. Thus, the right choice for this year might be to ignore Score Choice. Check with the colleges to which you plan to apply to determine that particular admissions office’s policy regarding SAT scores.
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