By: Caz Bevan, SAT Preparation GroupSpring testing for the SAT and ACT is here, and the summer of college applications is just around the corner! Juggling scholarship applications, college applications, college essays, and student portfolios can be a daunting task. Narrowing down a list of schools you want to attend is hard enough!
During this time of year, students and their parents want to streamline and simplify the college application process as best as possible.
Knowing how Score Choice and Super Scoring can help you is half the battle!
What is Score Choice?
In 2012, the College Board released the option of Super Choice for all students who have taken the SAT and/or SAT II exam(s). Score Choice allows students to pick specific test dates and SAT scores they want to submit to a college. This means if you took the SAT in October, December, and March, and your best test scores come from October and March, you can now send just these test scores to your college of choice!
The same goes for SAT II test scores. If you took an SAT Subject Test in Physics, French, and Math in October (as students can take a maximum of three SAT II exams at once), and then you took Physics again in March, you can pick your initial Physics, French, and Math score from October to submit to each college. The college(s) you submit to will never know your other scores or that you even took additional exams.
For students with more than one ACT score, the ACT has always been considered a Score Choice test. You can take the ACT as many times as you want and submit specific test dates for which you want to send scores.
What is SuperScoring?
Schools allow SuperScoring on both the SAT and the ACT.
SuperScoring allows a student to take the highest score from multiple SAT or ACT exams and piece them together into one big SuperScore!
For example, if you took the SAT three times scoring highest in reading on your first exam (680), highest in math on your third exam (640), and highest in writing on your second exam (690), you’ll be able to submit your highest scores from each section so that your SuperScore looks like this Reading 680, Math 640, and Writing 690.
Students can take the SAT or ACT multiple times and be reassured that, in the end, they’ll look their best with SuperScoring on their side. SuperScoring for the ACT has only recently been accepted since the Common Application has been put into place. However, we want you to be aware and keep in mind that not all schools will allow you to SuperScore.
Will Your College Accept Super Choice and SuperScoring?
The bad news is, that individual colleges and universities throughout the United States have their own policies in regard to Score Choice and superscoring. Different schools are allowed to use the scores you send them in different ways. For example, some schools will require that you send every test score from every test date. Often these schools are interested in how you’ve improved, and these schools will also assume your study habits and dedication based on the number of tests you’ve taken and how you’ve improved on each test.
While many schools accept your Score Choice, you will want to check the policies of each school you are applying to. See what your school accepts here.
The good news is, accepting SuperScores is advantageous to the college. Colleges like to report higher test scores to help raise their school ranking and encourage students to envision the school as high quality and prestigious.
Most colleges and universities will list their Super Choice and/or SuperScoring policies on their website.
