Do colleges care at all if a ACT/SAT is one sitting or superscored?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure on a tiny level, it is noted those who do it in one setting.

Is it? I hope so. Superscoring is just more evidence of the dumbing down of expectations.

Superscoring has been around for decades. I graduated high school in 1993 and there was superscoring.

Yup, 1992 and same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Sitting 1: 32, due to low English section.
---->Learned comma rules, etc.
Sitting 2: 34,

Superscore: 35

Worth taking again to get a single sitting 35?

Do schools care?

i always thought single sitting is the 'first' sitting - one and only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Sitting 1: 32, due to low English section.
---->Learned comma rules, etc.
Sitting 2: 34,

Superscore: 35

Worth taking again to get a single sitting 35?

Do schools care?

i always thought single sitting is the 'first' sitting - one and only.

sure, but a college will never know if your "single sitting" was actually on try 5.
Even the Presidential Scholars program will not know (or care) about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Sitting 1: 32, due to low English section.
---->Learned comma rules, etc.
Sitting 2: 34,

Superscore: 35

Worth taking again to get a single sitting 35?

Do schools care?

i always thought single sitting is the 'first' sitting - one and only.

sure, but a college will never know if your "single sitting" was actually on try 5.
Even the Presidential Scholars program will not know (or care) about this.

WRONG! You have to report a TOTAL COMPOSITE FROM ONE SINGLE SITTING---even if you provide highest subscores with test dates. You can't provide the COMMON APP a superscored Composite score.

You report from a single siting:
Highest Composite (from one single test date)
Highest Verbal (with date)
Highest Reading (with date)
Highest Math (with date)
Highest Science (with date)
^if those 4 different dates make a higher composite--you can't report that under 'highest composite'--not on common app, or for UVA and other schools.

The schools will receive a 'superscore' report if you send it which will have all the scores from any test you used to generate a 'composite' and it will have a superscore composite on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Sitting 1: 32, due to low English section.
---->Learned comma rules, etc.
Sitting 2: 34,

Superscore: 35

Worth taking again to get a single sitting 35?

Do schools care?

i always thought single sitting is the 'first' sitting - one and only.

sure, but a college will never know if your "single sitting" was actually on try 5.
Even the Presidential Scholars program will not know (or care) about this.

WRONG! You have to report a TOTAL COMPOSITE FROM ONE SINGLE SITTING---even if you provide highest subscores with test dates. You can't provide the COMMON APP a superscored Composite score.

You report from a single siting:
Highest Composite (from one single test date)
Highest Verbal (with date)
Highest Reading (with date)
Highest Math (with date)
Highest Science (with date)
^if those 4 different dates make a higher composite--you can't report that under 'highest composite'--not on common app, or for UVA and other schools.

The schools will receive a 'superscore' report if you send it which will have all the scores from any test you used to generate a 'composite' and it will have a superscore composite on it.

another thing to think about is your declared intended major. My kid was humanities so the perfect 36 in Verbal and 36 in Reading helped. If you declare Math and it's your lowest subset--that is going to look 'off'. If you have a low science and low math as a STEM major you might want to rethink the ACT.

[Anonymous]

No, they don't care. They have so many moving parts, OP, even very careful and painstaking college admissions staff can't weigh all these minor details.

Some of these offices have tried computer-supported admission selection, and I think we should really be moving in that direction, otherwise there's too many criteria and too much risk of personal bias. They could write an AI program weighing what the office wants most at the beginning of each season (Early Action), and tweak as necessary as the season progresses (Regular Decision, then waitlist).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like most things I doubt it's a black/white answer. Some schools don't accept superscores, some only want best and highest, some want to see the scores of all tests, some are test blind, etc. I suspect it's best to assume their priority lies in what they ask for.

For DCUM parents on the other hand "one sitting" seems to be an important data point.

Don't think most schools who superscore care to differentiate between one score or super scoring

[Anonymous]

Couldn't tell you, one and done each (1560/35) wanted to baseline sophomore year and thankfully did, covid hit the following year. I would say though that schools do it for a reason and have forever so shouldn't be too big of a ding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Sitting 1: 32, due to low English section.
---->Learned comma rules, etc.
Sitting 2: 34,

Superscore: 35

Worth taking again to get a single sitting 35?

Do schools care?

No

Your kid could just as easily mess up one section and end up with a lower overall score.
take the superstore 35 and be done

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were at a Georgetown information session not too long ago. Georgetown requires all scores be submitted. The admissions rep running the session said that while they expect to see more than one, "a whole page of scores" is not what they expect to see.

I interpreted that to mean that for Georgetown, diminishing returns is real

I wish all schools required submission of all scores. Starting at ACT27 and getting 35 eventually is very different than the 35 on one try.
Especially with certain private schools having 40% of kids get extra time

You're mixing up two different issues.
1) Well-off kids are in substantial test prep that's going to help them anyway. Yes, your kid may improve each time they take the real test, but that's not the major thing driving inequity.
2) Extra time on test given due to learning disabilities isn't indicated to colleges. Not sure how you know 40% of kids get extra time at certain schools, unless you're employed there in some capacity supporting special needs, in which case you shouldn't be gossiping on DCUM about confidential matters.

I thought colleges knew about extra time on sat or act?

No. Accommodations are not indicated on score reports. Because they aren’t an “edge”, they are an issue of accessibility. No one reports that their kid with 20/400 vision wore glasses for the test, either.

My dyslexic kid literally can’t read fast enough to get through all the material on the reading comp section. With extra time, DC can just finish the section and scores strongly (but not knocking it out the park—no 750-800 scores here).

That is precisely the reason accommodations are supposed to be given. Likewise your dyslexic kid should be able to get reasonable accommodations in college as well.

[Anonymous]

Can someone clarify- ACT Composite from one single sitting on one single date is what is self reported on Common App. You can then send ONLY this singular test if this each sub section on this test is your highest? If you bombed every section on your first attempt, you will never have to send this test to colleges since you are self reporting data only from the single test? Alternatively, if you do have higher sub sections you choose to list below the compooist from subsequent attempts, you could still never have to send the original test you bombed ever? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about the ACT, but for the SAT say kid took it 2x. First time got 700M and 600V for a 1300. Second time got a 600M and 700V, again a 1300. Superscored it would be a 1400, but you have to submit both composite scores to prove that, so the colleges will see the 600s (and almost certainly won’t care).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know about the ACT, but for the SAT say kid took it 2x. First time got 700M and 600V for a 1300. Second time got a 600M and 700V, again a 1300. Superscored it would be a 1400, but you have to submit both composite scores to prove that, so the colleges will see the 600s (and almost certainly won’t care).

The vast majority of colleges (I want to say it's 98%+...maybe 99%), ask for your self-reported SAT score and accept super scores. So, when you apply you self-report a 1400 in the example above.

After acceptance, they ask for the official reports. As long as the highest scores on the two tests are the same as what you self-identified, they don't care how you did it.

A more extreme example, if you got a 1200 (800 verbal / 400 math) and a 1200 (800 math / 400 verbal), you would in fact report a 1600 super score. After acceptance, you would have the official scores sent from the College Board. This example is extreme so maybe it raised eyebrows because I doubt they have ever received such lopsided scores on each test...but you didn't lie or not follow their own instructions.

[Anonymous]

They definitely should get rid of superscoring but nearly every selective college allows it, except for Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They definitely should get rid of superscoring but nearly every selective college allows it, except for Georgetown.

Why? The entire point of standardized tests is that they are within a narrow range of difficulty. As long as someone is capable doing well on both parts, does it matter if it’s in the same 2 hour window or not? It’s an artificial distinction that tells us next to nothing.