SAT Score Choice Introduction

I Got a Bad SAT Score; Now What?

Students hear the phrase, "SAT Score Choice" and wonder what in the world those three little words mean as they relate to the SAT test. I've had dozens of emails related to this question, and thought it was time to explain the basics about SAT Score Choice in a way that anyone can understand it. After all, high school students are the ones using this phenomenon, so it's important that they know what it is, so they can strategize about when to take the SAT.

What Is SAT Score Choice?

Basically, Score Choice is part of the SAT score reporting policy that allows students to send scores by test date to colleges. The policy was abolished in 2002 due to worry about unfairness, but reinstated for seniors graduating in 2010 and continues today.

The SAT Score Choice Details

There are a few details you need to know about the policy, so here's a list of information about availability, reporting and more.

• You can sign up via the Internet or by calling customer service to use SAT Score Choice.
  
• You may not take the test, and then decide to send only onesection of your scores (Critical Reading, for example). If you choose to use Score Choice to send scores from that particular testing date, then you will send your scores from the entire SAT exam taken that day.
  
• If you've taken the test multiple times, however, you may decide to send any combination of your scores: all of them, just one of them, or a couple of your best. There are no additional fees for sending more than one set of scores to colleges and universities.
  

• You will still receive all of your test scores as will your high school. SAT Score Choice will not change your personal receipt of the scores.
  
• Score Choice is optional. You don't have to choose to send a particular set of scores – you may send them all, each time you choose to test. Most colleges and universities will consider the best SAT scores when they make admissions decisions.
  
• If you haven't yet sent your scores to colleges, you'll receive an email reminder from the College Board urging you to do so. Please keep your colleges' preferences in mind about when they'd like to receive scores to make admissions decisions! Although the College Board can remind you to send them, they will not remind you about when they are due according to your college's deadlines.

The SAT Score Choice Controversy

Many people believe that SAT Score Choice is not fair. They think that it offers students with more money – those who can pay the SAT registration fees multiple times – a greater advantage than those who cannot afford to take the exam more than once. Here's the explanation of the controversy:

If one student (we'll call him Josh) takes the test six times, improves each time, and opts to send only his best SAT score to the university of his choice, then it appears to the college as if he's received very high marks after only one shot! The college may assume that Josh is just a great test-taker or exceptionally bright.

On the other hand, if another student (we'll call him Zach) only takes the test once because that is all his family can afford, and does as well as the first student did the first time he took it, then it appears as though Zach is not as adept of a test-taker to the college admissions officers as Josh is. Assuming that each guy has a similar GPA, great recommendations, and loads of community involvement, admissions officers may opt in Josh's favor, merely because of the number of times he's taken the exam.

SAT Score Choice Conclusion

Right or wrong, SAT Score Choice is one of your options. Feel free to use it if you know that one of your SAT scores is significantly higher than the rest. If you're confused about which scores to send to the school to which you're applying, though, then just send them all. They may be looking for something that you're not displaying and it would be better to show them an entire picture of what you can do, rather than leave something out that would make their decision easier.