Susie Lee
Reporter
Beginning early next spring, a new SAT score reporting policy will allow students to decide which of their scores the colleges that they are applying to can see.
College Board, an organization that administers programs such as SAT and SAT Subject Tests, stated that changing the score report will ease anxiety and offer students a second chance on scoring well.
“We believe this policy will help reduce student stress and anxiety associated with the testing experience. It will allow students to put their best foot forward on test day,” said Alana Klein, Director of Communications & Marketing at College Board via e-mail.
Taking the SAT many times, though, may distract students from sticking to their academics and create another burden for students, according to College Counseling Director Rebecca Wandro.
“This scoring policy creates a new kind of stress to students’ mental states as there may be a new pressure to retake the SAT more than usual,” said Wandro.
While students have the ability to cover up bad scores in their score report, some colleges like University of Southern California and Stanford University still recommend students to not take the SAT more than twice.
“The SAT may have a new testing policy, but for Stanford, the policy is irrelevant,” said Shawn Abbot, Director of Admission at Stanford University. “Stanford still requires that applicants submit any and all tests they take. We zero in on the highest scores available in our evaluation.”
Regardless of this new plan, College Board sees no significant advantage in students taking the test more than twice. Multiple retaking of SAT tests only improves the original score by 30 to 40 points on average, according to College Board.
“The students who will benefit from this most are students who can afford to take the test multiple times and sign up for test prep,” said Wandro. “I’m concerned this will not help first generation and low-income students who may not have the same access.”
Although College Board offers fee-waivers that allow low-income students to take the test free twice, their chances are still low compared to students who can afford to pay $45 for each test.
Taking the SAT several times may also prevent colleges from fully understanding the context in which students earned their scores.
“It’s talent to take the SAT once and receive a strong score compared to a student who takes it 10 times and receives a strong score; that is perseverance and coaching,” said Wandro.
Senior Maggie Johnson thinks that the policy is unnecessary. She said it is better if colleges see how much students improve, and does not believe in the SAT as an accurate reflection of a student’s aptitude.
“Manipulating which scores are shown doesn’t seem right. It’s just like retaking a test until you get a 100 percent,” said Johnson.
Testing is an important piece of the admissions process, but it is not the only defining factor in an acceptance or rejection decision.
“Testing is really only one part of our evaluation process,” said Abbot. “We have a holistic evaluation process where multiple variables are considered. A student’s academic record is far more important to us.”
