Quadratic equations…polynomial factors…identifying sentence errors…unrecognizable vocabulary words. If you’re preparing to take the current SAT this fall or wintertime, you are no doubt consumed with understanding all of these concepts and more, simultaneously wondering if the score you hope to get will be strong enough to help you stand out within an overwhelmingly competitive applicant pool. But rather if your plan is to take the upcoming October, November, December, or January SAT, before the College Board ceremoniously switches over to the “redesigned” SAT in Mar 2016, you need to be asking yourself three extremely important questions.
1 . Will colleges accept comes from the “current” SAT when I make an application for admission next fall?
Of course they will, right? That’s what I thought too, before I began to some inquiries. In early July, I called 40 different colleges and universities. Big and small, public and personal, hyper selective and less competing. Of those schools that were prepared to concern a formal response to my question, all affirmed that yes, “old” SAT scores would satisfy their particular testing requirements for students trying to get Fall 2017 admission. But a small number of colleges were still in the process of defining their position on the remodeled SAT and provided me along with “I believe so , yes” or even “probably” responses. Not to worry! Give these colleges a few months time, and I’m sure we’ll see that any student who has taken the current SAT will be permitted to submit this as part of his or her application next fall.
2 . If I take both the old and new SATs, will colleges superscore the two exams to give me the very best composite score?
For those readers who might be unfamiliar with the term “superscore, ” it’s a practice by which some colleges will certainly essentially mix and match between your various SAT results, combining the highest critical reading through score from one exam with the best math score from another. In-may 2016, around the same time because the results from the March 2016 SAT will be made available, the College Board will certainly publish a concordance table that will help guidance counselors, admissions officers, and students compare scores from the previous and new exams. (This is essential, in part, because the SAT is returning to its tried-and-true 1600-point scale, ditching the 2400-point version that many admissions officers never really got the hang of! ) In theory, colleges should be able to combine the final results of the two different exams simply by converting old SAT scores in to new ones.
Unfortunately, the majority of the colleges I spoke along with were adamant that superscoring involving the two versions of the SAT would not take place. In their eyes, trying to merge both exams would be like mixing pears and oranges. To keep the sincerity of their data intact, most admissions officers will either consider a student’s top scores from the old SAT or top scores from the remodeled SAT. Of the 40 schools I contacted, only Boston College, Harvard, Caltech, and the University of Pennsylvania confidently anticipated superscoring results from the “old” and redesigned SAT. However, I like the advice suggested simply by an admissions officer from the University or college of Rochester: self-report all of your scores . By listing all of your SAT results on the Common Program, you’re giving admissions officers a chance to consider your strongest scores across both versions of the exam. Admissions officers are human, and generally want to give students the benefit of the doubt!
3. Do I have to take the optional writing component of the remodeled SAT?
Here’s where things obtain tricky. Simply put, most students should intend on signing up for the optional writing portion of the new SAT because many colleges will require it. (The same help and advice applies for students planning to take the ACT. ) But when trying to predict which colleges require the optional creating section, all logic seems to head out the window. While the majority of colleges that currently require the ACT’s optional writing portion are continuing to move forward with similar plans for the SAT’s writing component, a surprising number of colleges are reversing their decisions. Boston University, Cornell, and UNC Church Hill are just a few of the colleges that will currently require the SAT and ACT with writing, but will certainly not be asking for the optional creating portion come March 2016. Confused? Please refer to the handy chart below to help you navigate the results of our own informal telephone survey on the remodeled SAT.
How colleges will utilize the redesigned SAT is certainly clearly a work in progress. Even though rising juniors are undoubtedly anxious to learn how their old and brand new SAT scores will be evaluated within the admissions process, bear in mind that colleges are usually in a similar boat of uncertainty! Following the March 2016 launch of the remodeled SAT, admissions officers will have a much clearer sense of how the remodeled SAT fits into their application evaluation. Your best line of defense is simply to try and do your personal best on all of your upcoming exams, and remember that standardized check scores are just one piece in a very complex and dynamic admissions procedure.
Please note: while every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of this information, colleges may and do change their information without warning. It’s also possible to receive 2 different responses from the same admissions office, depending on whom you talk to! So please, if you find a difference, let us know and we will be sure to follow up with the school in question.
College
Accept old SAT for Class of 2017?
Require optional writing?
Superscore old and brand new SAT?
Amherst College
Yes
Strongly recommended
No
Boston College
Yes
Not yet decided
Yes
Boston University or college
Yes
No
No
Brown University or college
Yes
No
No
California Start of Technology
Yes
Yes
Yes
Columbia University
Yes
No
No
Cornell University
Yes
No
Not yet decided
Dartmouth College
Yes
Yes
No
Drexel University
Likely, yes
Likely, yes
Likely, yes
Duke University
Yes
Yes
Not yet decided
Elon University
Yes
Not really yet decided
Not really yet decided
Emory University
Yes
Yes
No
Georgetown University
Yes
No
Not yet decided
Harvard University or college
Yes
Yes
Yes
Massachusetts Start of Technology
Not really yet decided
Not really yet decided
Not really yet decided
Middlebury College
Yes
Not yet decided
No
New York University or college
Yes
Yes
Likely, indeed
Northeastern University
Likely, indeed
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Northwestern University
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Penn State University
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Princeton University
Yes
Yes
No
Providence College
Yes
Yes
Yes
Stanford University
Yes
Yes
No
Tufts University
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Not yet decided
Tulane University or college
Yes
Likely, yes
Simply no
Oughout of Wisconsin
Yes
No
No
University North Carolina Chapel Hill
Yes
Simply no
No
University of Ca (UCLA, Berkeley, etc . )
Yes
Yes
No
University of Chi town
Yes
No
Likely, indeed
University or college of Massachusetts Amherst
Not yet decided
Recommended
Not yet decided
University of Michigan
Yes
Yes
No
University of Pennsylvania
Yes
Simply no
Yes
University of Rochester
Yes
No
Not yet decided
University of Vermont
Yes
No
Not yet decided
University of Virginia
Likely, indeed
Likely, yes
No
University of Washington
Yes
Likely, yes
No
University Tx at Austin
Yes
Yes
No
Villanova University
Yes
No
No
Washington University in St . Louis
Yes
No
No
Yale University or college
Yes
Yes
No
Relevant Articles:
Must i Take the New SAT?
Sending Test Ratings to Colleges: Top 5 FAQs
11 th Grade: College Application Process | Staying Before Your Applications
Elyse Krantz is a member of College Coach’s team of university admissions experts . Prior to joining College Coach, Elyse worked in admissions at Barnard College and Bennington College.
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