SAT Testing Strategy: Use SAT Score Choice

Until last year, students who took the SAT had to turn in all their SAT scores to schools where they were applying. So if students had a bad SAT math section on one test and did far better on the SAT math section on the next, it didn’t matter. They had to submit all their scores.

Not anymore. Through Score Choice, students can designate which SAT test date they want to submit. They can’t, however, cherry pick subcategories to submit. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Let’s say in March a teen got this SAT score:

• Reading 600
• Math: 620
• Writing: 600

In May the teen got these SAT results:

• Reading 650
• Math: 600
• Writing: 600

The teenager can’t submit the SAT reading score from May and the SAT math score from March. You have to pick either the March or May sitting. In this case, the student would send the March scores. If Score Choice won’t help, the next SAT strategy should.

SAT Testing Strategy: Ask if College Cherry Picks Test Scores.

Many colleges have insisted that Score Choice isn’t necessary because they cherry pick SAT test scores for students.

Let’s say that in two different testing periods you got composite scores of 1790 and 1820. But if you used the best subcategories between those two SAT tries, your composite score would inch up to 1840. Many schools will cherry pick the best category scores for you because they want to use the highest numbers possible when they release their published scores. It makes a school’s incoming freshmen class look smarter.

So ask a school how it would formulate your SAT results before you decide whether to submit one or more rounds of SAT test scores.

ACT Testing Strategy: Cherrypicking ACT Test Results.

Last fall I wrote about an ACT testing strategy called superscoring that can boost your overall test score. Increasing  ACT scores by superscoring could put teenagers in a better position to gain admission to some schools or capture fatter financial aid packages or merit scholarships.

Test Strategy:  Don’t assume your SAT or ACT scores are too low.

The biggest admission factor for most schools is a student’s grade point average and the strength of the student’s high school courses. SAT and ACT scores typically rank below that. When in doubt, ask a college how important these test scores are.

Her are links to my other SAT and ACT test tips:

Should You Take the SAT or ACT Test?

Can Guessing Boost Your ACT or SAT Test Scores?

How to Survive Bad SAT or ACT Scores

Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller and she also writes a college blog for CBSMoneyWatch. Follow her on Twitter.

Strategy No. 6: Apply to SAT-Optional Schools

If your teenager bombs on the SAT or the ACT test, don’t despair.  Plenty of schools don’t care if your child gets a bad SAT or ACT score. In fact, there are more than 830 schools which don’t mandate SAT or ACT scores as part of their college admission process.

The number of schools making the SAT and ACT optional continues to grow as critics question the usefulness and fairness of these standardized tests. Among the test-optional schools are about a third of the nation’s top 100 liberal arts colleges, including Middlebury College, Smith College, Bates College, Mount Holyoke College and Pitzer College.

You can find the list of all the test-optional schools at FairTest.org.

SAT Strategy 7: Be skeptical about published SAT scores.

At nearly all test-optional  schools, the published SAT and ACT scores will be inflated. I wrote about this standardized test phenomenon for The New York Times.

With rare exceptions, colleges only calculate the SAT or ACT test scores of high school students who submitted them. And, no surprise, the teenagers who send in their scores tend to fare well on the SAT or ACT. Those who perform poorly typically keep their scores secret which obviously inflates the published averages.

So if your child’s SAT or ACT scores are lower than the published ones at a particular college, it could be that the school has artificially inflated them through its test-optional policy. Consequently, your child could be a fine candidate for a college even if his or her scores seem too low.

Ask a school if its published SAT or ACT averages reflect the scores of all its freshmen class.

Strategy No. 1: Improving Your SAT or ACT Scores: Take a Sample Test

Strategy No. 2: Should You Take the SAT or ACT Test?

Strategy No. 3: Can Guessing Boost Your SAT or ACT Scores?

Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes a college blog for CBSMoneyWatch. Follow me on Twitter.

I was fascinated to learn that an increasing number of colleges are cherry picking applicants’ ACT test scores.

To understand what this means, here’s some background: Historically, colleges used a student’s composite ACT score that’s made up of four underlying categories — English, mathematics, reading and science. ACT, Inc., averages the four scores, which each range from 1 to 36, to create a test taker’s composite average. Schools traditionally used the composite score for the most recent test even if it wasn’t the highest. The reasoning for this practice is that the latest test better reflects the student’s current ability. That sounds like hogwash to me, but that has been the reality.

As a result of this age-old policy, a child who scored higher on an earlier test was out of luck. So too was a teenager who scored better in some categories for a test that didn’t ultimately count.

Some schools, however, have now embraced ACT superscoring. With this policy, a college will select the highest subscores for each category and create what could be a more impressive superscore. This practice, by the way, is the standard procedure with the SAT. When a student takes multiple SAT tests, colleges routinely pick the best scores from the three SAT categories – math, reading and writing - and create a new score.

It makes sense for anyone, who suffers through the ACT college test more than once, to ask what a school’s policy is with ACT superscoring. Knowing this latest test trend is important because teenagers might be in better position to gain admission to some schools or capture fatter financial aid packages or merit awards if their ACT results are superscored.

Further Reading:

4 Smart Ways to Boost Your Teen’s SAT or ACT Score (for less)

How To Survive  a Bad SAT Score

The Dirty Secret Behind the ACT and SAT Tests