Poor Choice on Scores

As if the pressure of applying to college wasn’t already enough, the College Board recently eliminated the option of score choice for SAT II subject tests. Next year, the score from every SAT II students take will appear on that student’s college application.

Score choice has never been an option on the SAT I test, which is supposed to measure aptitude. Predictably, the knowledge that each SAT I score is destined to find its way into students’ application files has contributed to the test’s mythic status as possibly the most stressful high school experience. On the subject tests, which measure ability in a particular field, score choice allowed students to take the test multiple times, with multiple levels of understanding of the material. Because the tests were not one-shot deals, there was less pressure on students—in sharp contrast to most other aspects of the college admissions process.

Additionally, score choice allowed students a choice in the information representing them to college admissions committees. Although many students are satisfied with their first score on an SAT II test and choose not to re-take it, the potential for improvement is a liberating part of an otherwise claustrophobic process. And although many admissions officials say they will only look at applicants’ highest test scores, the elimination of score choice has left students without the flexibility to hide an anomalous low score, perhaps before they got the hang of the test.

One College Board official justified removing score choice on the grounds that the system was too complex, sometimes causing students to miss deadlines for releasing their scores. But instead of eliminating the option for students to view their scores before deciding whether or not to send them, the College Board should have simplified the existing system. We refuse to believe that College Board could not have created a simple yet beneficial option for students by effectively utilizing the Internet and clarifying its labyrinthine score release processes.

Keeping score choice would relieve unnecessary pressure from yet another angle of the college admissions process. The College Board should take responsibility for creating a workable score choice system rather than abandoning it at students’ expense.