Question about reporting scores to colleges

[Kassia]

I hope this makes sense...

Dd is a junior in high school and took the SAT in August and was happy with her score and just got her PSAT scores and they were well above our state cutoff for NMSF.  She wants to be done with standardized testing.

We enrolled her in public school this year because DE is free for ps students but not homeschool students.  It's been working out fine (she attends DE full time and doesn't go to the high school) but the district (or maybe the state) requires all juniors to take the ACT.  Dd doesn't want to prep for the ACT at all - she did prep a lot for the SAT and then a little for the PSAT since it wasn't long after the SAT.  She is burned out and doesn't see the point in doing test prep since her SAT scores were good.  I'm really happy to see her set healthy boundaries for herself since she's a perfectionist.  

Will she have to report her ACT score to colleges when she applies?  I'm just a little worried she'll have to and that her percentile will be much lower than her SAT score.  

Edited December 10, 2018 by Kassia

[kokotg]

nope--she doesn't have to report them! 

[RootAnn]

She shouldn't - unless she applies to one of the schools that requires you to send all scores. This list may be out of date and only references the SAT. Best to check each college website for details. But, not many require you to send ALL standardized test scores. Very, very few. In fact, Georgetown & Stanford used to require you send all of both (2016) but neither seem to have that requirement anymore. Yale requires sending either all SATs or all ACTs, and, actually, they can self-report scores & not officially send them, if I read their FAQ page correctly. 

[amsunshine]

How annoying that the school is requiring the ACT.  I hope the school pays for it too?  I have no experience with the ACT, but I'm wondering, for the sake of your dd's sanity, if she could just cancel her score immediately after the test date, like you could for the SAT?  

[RootAnn]

@amsunshine When schools require it, it is usually the state requiring it. The student doesn't pay for it and is not allowed to cancel the scores like they could for a normal test date.

[amsunshine]

1 minute ago, RootAnn said:

@amsunshine When schools require it, it is usually the state requiring it. The student doesn't pay for it and is not allowed to cancel the scores like they could for a normal test date.

 

Darn! (about the cancellation part...)

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, amsunshine said:

How annoying that the school is requiring the ACT.  I hope the school pays for it too?  I have no experience with the ACT, but I'm wondering, for the sake of your dd's sanity, if she could just cancel her score immediately after the test date, like you could for the SAT?  

 

11 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

@amsunshine When schools require it, it is usually the state requiring it. The student doesn't pay for it and is not allowed to cancel the scores like they could for a normal test date.

 

Yes, we were told it's state mandated and the state pays for it.  We may have found something that would allow her to skip the test.  I sent the information to the assistant superintendent and am hoping this works.  

[linders]

There are a few schools that require you to report all scores, all tests, regardless. Georgetown is one of them (DS18 applied there). The college's rationale is they want to see those kids whose scores reflect the time/money to take a test over and over to achieve a good superscore. So worth checking her schools of interest.

[alewife]

16 hours ago, Kassia said:

 

 

Yes, we were told it's state mandated and the state pays for it.  We may have found something that would allow her to skip the test.  I sent the information to the assistant superintendent and am hoping this works.  

What would happen if your D was sick on test day and unable to attend school?

[RootAnn]

1 hour ago, linders said:

There are a few schools that require you to report all scores, all tests, regardless. Georgetown is one of them (DS18 applied there).

I checked Georgetown's website and could no longer find this requirement. Does it show up once you start the application process? I know they used to require it, but didn't see where they still do.

@alewife Here, they have make-up days for kids that were sick on the official state-wide testing day. (In fact, a handful of schools ended up using it so all the kids would take it again. Some schools were pilot programs for computer-run ACT testing and there were horrible glitches and irregularities-including kids from multiple rooms mingling together at break when some kids had already taken a specific section and others had not. Eveeyone retook with the paper version. The second make-up day was also used for sick kids from Day 1&2. A mess! Edited to add: it is a graduation requirement here. I don't know if you can substitute a regular testing day or a SAT equivalent as I'm not sure they've had time to iron out the kinks. Schools are "graded" on the SAT scores of their juniors.

Edited December 12, 2018 by RootAnn
Added graduation requirement

[alewife]

22 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

I checked Georgetown's website and could no longer find this requirement. Does it show up once you start the application process? I know they used to require it, but didn't see where they still do.

@alewife Here, they have make-up days for kids that were sick on the official state-wide testing day. (In fact, a handful of schools ended up using it so all the kids would take it again. Some schools were pilot programs for computer-run ACT testing and there were horrible glitches and irregularities-including kids from multiple rooms mingling together at break when some kids had already taken a specific section and others had not. Eveeyone retook with the paper version. The second make-up day was also used for sick kids from Day 1&2. A mess! Edited to add: it is a graduation requirement here. I don't know if you can substitute a regular testing day or a SAT equivalent as I'm not sure they've had time to iron out the kinks. Schools are "graded" on the SAT scores of their juniors.

I think I am in the same state as the OP.  I think the difference between my state and where you live is that the schools here are not penalized if kids don't take the test. Here is the verbiage from the department of education website: "There are no consequences to a district or school report card if a student fails to take the ACT or SAT. "

My understanding is that the school has to offer either the ACT or SAT to all juniors free of charge, but there is no penalty if the student doesn't take the test.  In addition, the Dept of Education has exempted some of the student body from taking the test.  One of the exempted categories is kids who have already achieved a remediation free score on the SAT/ACT test.  Here is the verbiage from the ODE website: 

1. A student who received a "remediation-free" score on the required nationally standardized assessment and has presented evidence of that fact to the student's district or school.

If it were me, I would just phone my D in sick that day.   I see no advantage to taking this test, but I do see a potential downside: The student has a bad testing day, ends up with a lower score on her record, and discovers that her college of choice requires all scores to be submitted.

Edited December 12, 2018 by alewife

[linders]

30 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

I checked Georgetown's website and could no longer find this requirement. Does it show up once you start the application process? I know they used to require it, but didn't see where they still do.

@alewife Here, they have make-up days for kids that were sick on the official state-wide testing day. (In fact, a handful of schools ended up using it so all the kids would take it again. Some schools were pilot programs for computer-run ACT testing and there were horrible glitches and irregularities-including kids from multiple rooms mingling together at break when some kids had already taken a specific section and others had not. Eveeyone retook with the paper version. The second make-up day was also used for sick kids from Day 1&2. A mess! Edited to add: it is a graduation requirement here. I don't know if you can substitute a regular testing day or a SAT equivalent as I'm not sure they've had time to iron out the kinks. Schools are "graded" on the SAT scores of their juniors.

 

Yes. When DS did the app in October, there was a very clear statement to include every SAT, SAT Subject Test, and ACT score.

[RootAnn]

38 minutes ago, alewife said:

I think I am in the same state as the OP.  I think the difference between my state and where you live is that the schools here are not penalized if kids don't take the test. Here is the verbiage from the department of education website: "There are no consequences to a district or school report card if a student fails to take the ACT or SAT. 

1. A student who received a "remediation-free" score on the required nationally standardized assessment and has presented evidence of that fact to the student's district or school.

Ah! Thanks. In our state, the wording is: "All students, including special education students and English Learners who are in their third-year cohort of high school must participate in the ACT.  An alternate exam is available for students who qualify as having significant cognitive disabilities." I didn't find the wording about schools/districts.

[Kassia]

1 hour ago, alewife said:

I think I am in the same state as the OP.  I think the difference between my state and where you live is that the schools here are not penalized if kids don't take the test. Here is the verbiage from the department of education website: "There are no consequences to a district or school report card if a student fails to take the ACT or SAT. "

My understanding is that the school has to offer either the ACT or SAT to all juniors free of charge, but there is no penalty if the student doesn't take the test.  In addition, the Dept of Education has exempted some of the student body from taking the test.  One of the exempted categories is kids who have already achieved a remediation free score on the SAT/ACT test.  Here is the verbiage from the ODE website: 

1. A student who received a "remediation-free" score on the required nationally standardized assessment and has presented evidence of that fact to the student's district or school.

If it were me, I would just phone my D in sick that day.   I see no advantage to taking this test, but I do see a potential downside: The student has a bad testing day, ends up with a lower score on her record, and discovers that her college of choice requires all scores to be submitted.

 

Yes, we must be in the same state.  🙂  The exemption from the ODE site is exactly what I sent our assistant superintendent.  I am waiting to hear back from him.  

[alewife]

3 minutes ago, Kassia said:

 

Yes, we must be in the same state.  🙂  The exemption from the ODE site is exactly what I sent our assistant superintendent.  I am waiting to hear back from him.  

I was in the exact opposite situation as you last year:  I wanted my D to be able to take the SAT, but the school told me that as a homeschooler she couldn't.  Once I cited the actual law, the school registered her for the test.  I realize that there are a lot of rules and regulations that schools need to adhere to, however, it would be nice if school officials would either provide accurate information or admit that they don't know the answer.   

[Kassia]

3 minutes ago, alewife said:

 I realize that there are a lot of rules and regulations that schools need to adhere to, however, it would be nice if school officials would either provide accurate information or admit that they don't know the answer.   

 

Yes!  This is what has been the most frustrating part of dealing with them!  There is so much misinformation coming from them and we have to research everything ourselves.  I hate to complain because they've been very nice about enrolling dd but there is so much incompetence.  Yesterday, I was told by a high school guidance counselor that my dd did not take the SAT in August, but the PSAT.  And he told me this in a very condescending manner as if I didn't know what test my own kid took.  Didn't he know that the PSAT couldn't be taken in August?  I find it hard to believe that a high school guidance counselor wouldn't know that.  

[Kassia]

Just found out she's exempt!  🙂  

[RootAnn]

Yeah!!!!!!!!!! Good job following through & congrats to her on being done testing.