In the latest bout of problems with the new SAT, another 1,600 exams were not rechecked after the discovery that 4,000 had been scored incorrectly.
On Wednesday of last week it was reported that some colleges had received inaccurate scoring information from SAT administrators. The inaccuracies affected 4,000 prospective students. The scores in question were for the exam held last October.
Affected students were notified last Thursday of the errors in their exam score by CollegeBoard, the company that owns the SAT.
According to the New York Times, most of the false scores were sent to schools in the Northeast. The problem that now arises is that many colleges and universities have already made a large number of their admissions decisions, and some schools will have to reconsider candidates.
One hundred and seven applicants to the University of Vermont were affected by the incorrect scoring. According to the Times, the University of Vermont admissions office reversed the admissions decision for one student and increased the scholarship offering to others.
Some colleges told the Associated Press that they did not expect many admissions decisions to be altered in light of the incorrect scores.
The Tufts admissions office is currently meeting in committee to make its admissions decisions for the class of 2010. The office would not comment on the SAT issue until deliberations conclude on Mar. 17.
Of the 495,000 exams taken in October, all have been rescanned except for the newest group of 1,600, which CollegeBoard expects to have scanned by the end of the week.
These problems have raised questions for some about the viability of CollegeBoard and the way it handled the situation. Others have questioned the practicality of the exam as a whole.
CollegeBoard spokeswoman Chiara Coletti told the AP that the company does not expect any more shortcomings in the scoring of the October exams.
"To the best of my knowledge, there are no more surprises," she said.
Roughly 600 students were given higher scores than they earned on their exams, but the College Board has decided not to alter those scores, prompting criticism from some college counselors and admissions officers.
The differences in scores, according to the College Board, are less than 100 points out of a maximum score of 2,400 for most of the 4,000 test-takers affected.
