Sending Scores

[serviceaboveAll]

DS is a junior and took fall SATs. He scored on the lower end but still in the ballpark (1220). He just took them again on Saturday and will take them again early fall. He taking ACTs for the first time in April. We haven’t sent his scores officially yet, anywhere. I still have a few days to do it free, but is it too early? Should I wait and send in the fall or should I send to the SA so they have them when he starts applications in July? Could sending too early hurt him if scores not as high as he was hoping? Could scores get lost since they are focusing on finishing up 2021 appointments? I appreciate any guidance and suggestions. I understand this is a helpful forum and do not take everything as "gospel" but I do respect the members, as many of them have been through the process.

 

[Laurantwins]

Following this thread! I'm in the same boat with my twin sons (currently end of sophomore year - just took first SAT's). Wondering the same thing...

 

[Ravens]

I don't think the SA will hold a low score against the candidate. There are different ways to look at this. You can send all the scores from every test (since they superscore) and the Academy will see that the candidate has taken the initiative to continue to strive to get better by attempting the test over and over again. They are looking for improvement and perseverance. If you are worried about a low score, then send just the best test. This is open to speculation as well in my opinion. The SA could view one test score as the candidate didn't try to improve their score or maybe they had a great day in the multiple choice guessing department. IMHO, I would send all the scores if you are taking the test multiple times.

 

[brovol]

List USMA as a recipient school. But I think your application (portal) needs to be open before WP starts inputting the scores. Someone more knowledgeable than me may chime in.

 

[brovol]

For sure USMA will not hold any bad scores against a candidate, unless you have only bad scores. Lol. In fact, the people who review the files will only see the best subscores (the superscores). Submit every single test which increases any subscore, regardless of how bad the other subscores are.

 

[rbp67]

DD waited for her portal to open in July to send her SAT and ACT scores. She also worked on her 4 essays around this time and plug them in once her portal opened.

 

[beantown31]

Its not too early. I sent them as i took them and then when my portal did open up they were already showing as rec'd.

 

[jebdad]

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I, personally, would not send in the low scores. I think it costs about $20 or so to send a report later. If you can afford it, I would do it that way and only send the scores you are comfortable with. Here's the thing: people will say that USMA super scores, etc. but the paranoid side of me says that I would not send them anything that can be used against my file. Some will also say that it shows perseverance. That's possible. But, some might also say that if it takes multiple attempts looks a lot worse than one or two great scores.

On another thread it was indicated that Navy actually puts in their profile to the admissions panel the number of times it was taken and the avg and high score. I have not heard that USMA does that, but I would not want to be the person who sends in every score the year they start doing that. Additionally, with USMA's portal, you only know that they have scores for you on file. They no longer tell you "what" scores they have. So, things tend to get lost, take a while to get posted, etc. At any one time I wouldn't want my portal to reflect anything but the best scores.

My DS took the ACT/SAT eleven times. Yep... eleven times. He sent in about 5 sets of scores along the way to a near perfect ACT score. Some scores looked good. They got sent in. Some had some scary elements. Nobody saw those. I just didn't trust that the one test he performed poorly on one section or another, they would use it against him.

 

[brovol]

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I, personally, would not send in the low scores. I think it costs about $20 or so to send a report later. If you can afford it, I would do it that way and only send the scores you are comfortable with. Here's the thing: people will say that USMA super scores, etc. but the paranoid side of me says that I would not send them anything that can be used against my file. Some will also say that it shows perseverance. That's possible. But, some might also say that if it takes multiple attempts looks a lot worse than one or two great scores.

On another thread it was indicated that Navy actually puts in their profile to the admissions panel the number of times it was taken and the avg and high score. I have not heard that USMA does that, but I would not want to be the person who sends in every score the year they start doing that. Additionally, with USMA's portal, you only know that they have scores for you on file. They no longer tell you "what" scores they have. So, things tend to get lost, take a while to get posted, etc. At any one time I wouldn't want my portal to reflect anything but the best scores.

My DS took the ACT/SAT eleven times. Yep... eleven times. He sent in about 5 sets of scores along the way to a near perfect ACT score. Some scores looked good. They got sent in. Some had some scary elements. Nobody saw those. I just didn't trust that the one test he performed poorly on one section or another, they would use it against him.

While it's true that even paranoids have enemies, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. My son had his high subscores on three different ACT tests (took the test four times), and also had some of his lowest subscores on some of those same tests. Thus, the academies saw some subpar scores the same time they saw his best scores. He didn't have a briliant superscore, but ended with M34, E31, S34, and R30, and earned an offer of appointment at USMA, USAFA, and USNA.

I firmly believe the RC's at West Point provide very honest and candid insight. They flat out insist that the low subscores are completely disregarded, and only the best scores are considered. Personally, I believe that, at least for USMA.

 

[USMAcand9821]

Unless something has drastically changed, you can only choose if the ACT scores are sent to schools. ALL SITTINGS of your SAT scores are accessible to them. This may require you to send one first (not sure because I only took the SAT once and decided the ACT was better for me) but you don't have a choice about which SAT scores admissions can see.

 

[RedDragon]

Agree with brovol on this one. I have 1 son at USMA who received appointments to 3 SAs and had some pretty low sub scores in the mix and another at USAFA who had some very low sub scores... again, need to emphasize that the academies look at the whole person concept because neither one of my kids would be where they are on ACT alone.

 

[jebdad]

While it's true that even paranoids have enemies, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. My son had his high subscores on three different ACT tests (took the test four times), and also had some of his lowest subscores on some of those same tests. Thus, the academies saw some subpar scores the same time they saw his best scores. He didn't have a briliant superscore, but ended with M34, E31, S34, and R30, and earned an offer of appointment at USMA, USAFA, and USNA.

I firmly believe the RC's at West Point provide very honest and candid insight. They flat out insist that the low subscores are completely disregarded, and only the best scores are considered. Personally, I believe that, at least for USMA.

I respectfully agree with how your son handled the situation. But having only one sitting out of four that did not contribute to his superscore is a far cry from my DS's 5 scores out of 9 (ACT) that did not contribute to his superscore. There are things you can control in this process and things outside of your control. What test scores the SAs see (with respect to the ACT) is within the applicant's control with a small $12 investment per test score sent. This allows you to put some eyeballs on the score before they go out. I see zero benefit to having the SAs have on file a test score from a sitting that contributes nothing to the superscore. In my DS's case, I felt like it was a worthwhile investment. This may not be the case for everyone. I firmly believe that all other things being equal, a candidate with a 35 superscore in two sittings wins out over one with a 35 superscore and several sittings. Relating this back to the OP, they have a first set of scores that are not attention getters with an application that has not even opened up yet. The applicant has and will take the test again before the application opens up. I see no benefit in sending the scores in now.

I am glad your experience with your son's RC was as you describe. In three application cycles with two different kids, that was not our experience. The RCs were fine but there were issues with looking at the wrong test scores, asking for the same information several times, providing little feedback, or a lack of timely responses to questions. This has probably impacted my confidence a bit in the process and so I can't completely get there when you say that scores that don't impact the superscore are completely disregarded.

We can agree to disagree I guess. Either way, my 2019 and 2021 will bookend your 2020. Go Army!!

 

[ktnatalk]

DS is a junior and took fall SATs. He scored on the lower end but still in the ballpark (1220). He just took them again on Saturday and will take them again early fall. He taking ACTs for the first time in April. We haven’t sent his scores officially yet, anywhere. I still have a few days to do it free, but is it too early? Should I wait and send in the fall or should I send to the SA so they have them when he starts applications in July? Could sending too early hurt him if scores not as high as he was hoping? Could scores get lost since they are focusing on finishing up 2021 appointments? I appreciate any guidance and suggestions. I understand this is a helpful forum and do not take everything as "gospel" but I do respect the members, as many of them have been through the process.

I am in Jebdad's camp, but I'd also suggest taking opportunities like taking timed full practice tests to improve before retaking the same test. Don't forget plan b schools may not always superscore. Best of luck!

 

[sdsmom]

This is a very helpful thread. My son has started an app for the class of 2022 as well and his ACT and SAT scores showed up immediately on the portal. I didn't think he had listed USMA when he registered for the ACT but I guess he did. I was also surprised to see them on his transcript from his high school. So even if we had not sent those to the Academy, they would have seen them on the transcript.