Concern About Score Choice
Posted by Erin Lewis at 9:56 am
Contrary to some reports, Score Choice is not a new College Board program, it’s simply a reincarnation of an old and controversial one. Once again, colleges and universities have placed their stakes in the ground—some honoring Score Choice, others rejecting it. Bloggers are spending a considerable amount of time asking readers what they think of it. The program has elicited a range of opinions from parents, students and educators that run the gamut from enthusiastic support to vehement opposition.
Score Choice raises all the familiar concerns that the public and the academic community have about selective college admissions, in general. Is it fair? Will it raise anxiety among students? Lessen anxiety? What about kids who can’t afford to compete?
These are all acceptable questions, but the first issue in this debate that needs clarification is whether or not one’s test scores represent a fixed mark of ability or an acceptably mutable data point. For some students, there is a fear that admissions officers will penalize a history of varied test scores. Yet in my own experience, when it actually comes to rendering a decision, an admissions officer does in fact use the highest sub-scores of a testing record to make the case for admission. Keep in mind, your admissions officer will have to be persuaded to admit you anyway.
There is, of course, the practical concern over how students who have tested multiple times with varying results should report their scores. Yale, which does not participate in Score Choice, has a sensible solution for any student wishing to use the Common Application to multiple schools—whether they are applicants to Yale or not. You can read it here.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: score choice, standardized tests, yale
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