When freshman Natalie Levy took her standardized tests in preparation for college applications, she exercised her right to Score Choice, allowing her to hold all of her SAT II test scores before releasing the ones of which she was most proud.
Levy found the luxury a particularly useful one in the rigorous game of college admissions. She said that "out of all the scores it was nice to be able to choose what a college saw, and how to represent yourself."
But had Levy taken the tests two years later, she wouldn't have had that opportunity. After a nine-year experiment, the College Board has chosen to discontinue its score-choice policy on SAT II testing, meaning that after this academic year, colleges will see every score that a student receives on a standardized test.
At Tufts, Dean of Admissions David Cuttino said the policy change is a smart decision.
"I think it's a good decision, and the reason is that there has been confusion created by Score Choice, and in many instances, what it has meant is that student scores have not been available at the time applications are being reviewed," Cuttino said.
Cuttino said that all too often, admissions officers attempt to review an application, only to find that the scores to which a student has alluded simply are not there. Either these students did not understand that scores needed to be released, or they simply forgot to do so. Cuttino hopes that eliminating Score Choice will ensure that admissions offices receive all of the information that they have requested.
According to a statement released by the College Board, while the policy was originally created to give students greater control over the admission process, the College Board's Guidance and Admission Assembly Council worried that the policy promoted "gamesmanship". It also gave an advantage to wealthier students who could afford the fee charged by the College Board to take multiple tests and exercise the Score Choice policy on all of them.
Cuttino said that, affluence aside, high schools which foster a greater dialogue on the college admissions process tend to encourage students to take advantage of processes like Score Choice. "[Score Choice] is likely to be something that is used in environments where there's just more discussion of the college process and more of an effort at trying to develop a strategy," he said. He added that at Tufts, the admissions office attempts to take this disparity into account.
Freshman Jenelle Birnbaum said she never exercised her Score Choice option because of the fees instituted by the College Board on all aspects of the testing process.
"I didn't want to pay for anything else [like score choice] because you had to pay for the tests," she said.
Students won't be shelling out extra dollars for Score Choice any longer, but Cuttino said the greatest benefit will be in lower stress levels. High school students will be less concerned with putting together a package for the admissions office and developing a testing strategy that will optimize their scores, he said.
"Hopefully it will mean that you are simply sitting for the testing and you're not spending a lot of time worrying about how [to] put together a strategy," Cuttino said. "I think it may reduce some of the complexity and hopefully...the anxiety over testing."
Not all students agree. Freshman Todd Bohannon said that having less control over the material that gets sent to admissions offices will actually lead to increased stress. "It'll be a more stressful experience if you take it and know you can't withhold the score," he said.
Regardless, Cuttino said that admissions officers will look at only the highest SAT II scores submitted, and will not be affected by drastically low scores unless the scores strongly contradict a student's high school record.
"It's the time and effort devoted to what they do day in and day out over their four years of high school and the time devoted to pursuing their interests and the significance of their achievement both in and out of the classroom that is more deserving of their time and attention," Cuttino said. "The testing is important, but it's only helpful when it's used with a student's academic record."
Sophomore Courtney Demesme-Anders said the policy may prove beneficial, and that high school students should be able to avoid any increased stress.
"I took all of them once," she said. "I can see how people would get stressed out about it, but it's not such a big deal," she said. She pointed out that most other standardized exams - such as Advanced Placement (AP) and SAT I tests - have never afforded an option like Score Choice.
According to a recently released statement, the College Board is preparing to launch a campaign aimed at informing colleges and students about the policy change. It also intends to encourage colleges to strongly state their SAT II policies and assure applicants that only their highest scores will be considered.
