Score Choice - Great College Advice https://greatcollegeadvice.com College Admission Counseling Sat, 16 Aug 2025 18:45:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/758df36141c47d1f8f375b9cc39a9095.png Score Choice - Great College Advice https://greatcollegeadvice.com 32 32 ‘Score Choice’: a Tempest in a Teapot? – Chronicle.com https://greatcollegeadvice.com/blog/score-choice-a-tempest-in-a-teapot-chroniclecom/ Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:55:16 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=1574 The Chronicle of Higher Education has joined in the reporting on “Score Choice,” the new policy by the College Board to allow students the ability to choose which test scores...

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]]> The Chronicle of Higher Education has joined in the reporting on “Score Choice,” the new policy by the College Board to allow students the ability to choose which test scores are sent to college admissions offices. ‘Score Choice’: a Tempest in a Teapot? – Chronicle.com (subscription required).
The article makes the following helpful points.
1.  Much of the criticism stems from the fact that the College Board is an organization that everyone loves to hate.
2.  The College Board’s rival, the ACT, has offered the equivalent to “score choice” for years, without any hew and cry.
3.  There is a legitimate debate about who should “own” the scores:  students, the College Board, or the admissions offices.
4.  Colleges often average scores, and sometimes pick the highest scores anyway.
5.  Students with multiple scores are likely to be in a higher income bracket, which tells gives those colleges some useful information (which should make some students think twice about taking the tests more than twice).
6.  Colleges can still ask (or demand) that all scores be revealed to them.
I also feel that this new policy is, indeed, much ado about nothing.  There are, of course, ways in which to improve one’s test score.  I worry that too many parents–and students–fret too much that these test scores define them as learners and as human beings.  Even students with average test scores can get a great college education.
Mark Montgomery
College Counselor

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]]> SAT Score Choice & Testing Business https://greatcollegeadvice.com/blog/sat-score-choice-and-the-business-of-standardized-testing/ Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:19:04 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=1463 Today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed presents an excellent analysis of the College Board’s new policy allowing students to select which of their SAT scores they’d like to submit to...

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]]> Today’s edition of Inside Higher Ed presents an excellent analysis of the College Board’s new policy allowing students to select which of their SAT scores they’d like to submit to colleges.

Ostensibly, this new policy is to alleviate the stress of taking the tests, and to give more power to students in the admissions process. However, at the same time, the College Board is telling colleges that they can have their own policies with regard to “Score Choice,” thereby eliminating any real “choice” by the students. Colleges still retain the right to see whatever scores they want to see.

As the article points out, the College Board is talking out of both sides of its mouth. To its student customers, it is saying, “we’re here for you…we care about your pain and suffering.” To it’s college and university customers, it is saying, “we’ll help you implement your policies and subvert student choice, if that’s what you want.”

Face it, folks. Higher education is a multi-billion dollar business in the USA. Colleges and universities act as businesses. The College Board is a company. It may be classified as a “non-profit” for tax purposes, but it has revenue goals like any other economic entity. And College Board competes in our capitalistic system alongside the ACT.

The problem is that the College Board has two sets of customers whose needs and interests are, if not diametrically opposed, at least in conflict. The College Board sits squarely between the colleges–who want ways to compare apples to oranges in an educational environment that is chaotically diverse–and high school students–who want the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light with the minimum of stress.

My advice to clients is to not to get caught up in a frenzy. Test scores are important aspects of the overall application process, especially to the most selective colleges. While I have seen a few students make huge leaps in their performance on these tests, most make only modest gains–even after extensive (and often expensive) test preparation tutoring. I do not think that these tests are particularly fair. Nor do I believe that they are measures of aptitude or predictors of future success. And I applaud colleges who dare to move away from using them.

But it doesn’t do high school juniors and seniors much good to get agitated, indignant, stressed, or depressed. The tests aren’t fair? Well, life isn’t fair And it we may as well start learning this little fact at age 17.

So again, what do I tell my clients?
–Prepare the best you can.
–Make realistic goals based on the reality of the numbers.
–Develop a strategy to present yourself in the best light possible.
–Do not allow your test scores or grades to define you as human being.
–Remember that there are many paths to success–and it’s never too late to choose a different one.

In short, let the professional educators, policy makers, and people like me rail against the unfairness and silliness of it all. For now, just do your work, enjoy your life, and have confidence that you have many wonderful opportunities ahead.

Great College Advice

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