Show New policy gives s 's I kids a choice over I which exam scores scores' r colleges see j o d 1 Michael Birnbaum The Washington Post 1 WASHINGTON Legions of high school students equipped quipped with No 2 pencils have have done battle with the SAT but a anew anew anew new policy is easing the stress for college-bound college teen teenagers gers If they take the test more than once once they hey can send their favorite set of scores with applications and ignore the rest Before the policy took effect last month students had no option All their SAT scores were reported when they applied to college The first time Gabby Ubilla lla took the test she said she fared well on the verbal section but was dissatisfied with her math score The College Boards Board's score choice policy will allow her to push the reset button with most colleges Now that 1 I 1 know what I need to study and what's on the test I can study different types of math questions without worrying about the theold theold theold old score said Ubilla 16 an 11 grader th-grader at Dominion High School in Sterling Va r But r-But But critics say score choice encourages students to take the test as many times as they want without consequence giving an unfair edge to the wealthy and injecting an additional level of strategy into an admissions process that can already feel like a cabalistic ritual Some question whether the change was made simply to compete with the ACT ACt the other major admissions test which has been I gaining market share in recent years and has had a de facto score-choice score policy A quarter of more than colleges tracked on the SAT Web site are asking students to send all their scores regardless Officials with the College Board the New York-based York nonprofit organization that administers the SAT say taking the test more than twice generally doesn't raise scores They say they were simply responding to surveys that showed that students want more control over how scores are distributed Its really meant to provide a more comfortable test experience to students said Laurence Bunin senior vice president operations and general manager of the SAT program at the College Board oard Under the poli policy y students can pick which sets of results from froni which testing sessions they send to colleges But they cant can't mix and match They cant can't choose a high verbal score from one une session and a high math score from another Each sessions session's results for forthe forthe forthe the math verbal and writing sections with a maximum score of 2400 must remain intact Some students and colleges are concerned about that If colleges see your first three test sessions they'll average the high scores together said Grace Chung 17 an grader th-grader 11 at Gar-Field Gar High School in Woodbridge Va But if they only see your scores from one day they dont don't see the variations Many colleges have long said they take into account only the highest scores for each section anyway Some admissions officials say students who use score choice might lose out My concern is that with the score choice they can only send the scores from one sitting said Lome Lorne Robinson dean of admissions at Macalester College in St. St Paul Minn which is requiring I students to send their entire SAT transcript He said Macalester combines high scores for each test section and doesn't think too much about the rest Some colleges that want to see all scores say the old way is actually simpler We dont don't want young people to game the system said Richard Shaw dean of admissions at Stanford University What we want them to be is open and honest and a d transparent And Shaw said he worried that wealthy students who can afford test-preparation test classes would get an unfair advantage If you start practicing and working with a consultant in the grade eventually you might get scores that are off the charts but that's not something that low-income low students will have h ave access to he said Not all highly selective schools are asking for every set of scores Harvard University where 7 percent of applicants were admitted this year has applauded the new policy It fIt could help relieve some of the anxiety with college admissions said William Fitzsimmons dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard He said that admissions counselors consider SAT scores within the context of an applicants applicant's background and that seeing one set of scores or three wouldn't make much difference The tests really are only one part of the application and there are lots of other important parts Fitzsimmons said |