Score Choice offers new option

By Hannah Hoffman

Santa Clara's Undergraduate Admissions Office was busy yesterday dealing with high school seniors turning their applications on time for the Jan. 7 deadline.

Though Santa Clara accepts both SAT and ACT scores in their applications, a new rule may make SAT scores more appealing for high school seniors.

Students who enter college in 2010 or later will be allowed to choose which of their SAT scores universities see and don't see, thanks to a new rule taking effect in March.

The College Board has developed a service called Score Choice, which allows students who have taken the test multiple times to hide poor scores.

Students will be able to choose which test date they want the College Board to report to schools, but are not allowed to pick and choose sections from different test dates.

The service is free and is "designed to reduce student stress and improve the test-day experience," according to the College Board Web site.

David Espinoza, the University of Oregon's coordinator of testing services, said he doesn't think the change will be significant from the university's perspective. "I don't really see it as a big deal," he said.

Under the current system, Espinoza said, all of a student's scores are reported to the university, providing a record of every SAT the student has taken.

What interests Espinoza about the new system is that it deals directly with people's perceptions and anxieties about low scores keeping them from being admitted.

However, Espinoza said the Score Choice system might make a difference at more competitive schools where SAT scores are used as a control against grade inflation and to eliminate candidates in very large applicant pools.

Oregon sophomore Megan Dunne said she only took the SAT once, but would have used Score Choice if it had been an option. Many students, she said, "test it out the first time to see what it's like."

Junior Teigh Bowen, who also took the test only once, said the Score Choice system gives students more options to display their strengths.

Brian Henley, director of admissions at Oregon, said that he gets concerned about anything that adds more stress to an already stressful application process, as well as anything that makes the process more complicated. Score Choice is just one more small decision in a list of many decisions students already have to make as they apply to universities, he said.

Espinoza expressed concern as well, but not toward Score Choice exclusively. While he said it's possible the new set-up will disadvantage those who cannot afford to take the test repeatedly, that is only a symptom of a larger problem.

The entire application process is already biased toward affluent students, Espinoza said. There are more SAT preparation programs in affluent areas, he said, and low-income schools and students are disadvantaged in college admissions.

Dunne said she thought Score Choice was "definitely fair," especially for students who didn't do well the first time. "It's more fair to give students a second chance," she said.

From U-wire and staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.